


Swimming

by CaptainErica



Category: Big Bang (Band)
Genre: M/M, daesung the wise merman, gd the prince, mermaid au, the little mermaid is considered a legend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-26 11:01:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7571635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainErica/pseuds/CaptainErica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Swimming was freeing, fast, and simple. It was simple movement, whereas floating, staying, waiting...those took effort.</p><p>Youngbae goes to the surface one day despite all rules against it and sees something worth returning for.</p><p>Jiyong goes out for a short boat ride in the bay outside his castle and sees something he can't explain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on asianfanfics.  
> I hope you enjoy ^^

Youngbae wasn’t a royal, he wasn’t allowed the one night of surfacing; but  _ oh _ how he wanted it. He awaited every royal’s fifteenth birthday with baited breath, and he never missed watching one. The fifteenth birthday was important for the royals for vague and mysterious reasons; tradition that was so old that there was no reason for it anymore. So every fifteenth birthday, the 15-year-old royal would be taken to a cove and allowed to surface, to see the dry world.

Youngbae thought that it was unfair that the little 15-year-old royals were allowed this chance when they were so young and didn’t fully appreciate the chance that they were given. Really, in the grand scheme of things, since merpeople lived to be around 300 years old, it seemed rather random to allow a bunch of babies the chance to surface when others were never allowed the chance.

 

Another successful fifteenth birthday surfacing was finished, and Youngbae was floating a short distance off from the main crowd.

 

“Why don’t you just look?” Seunghyun suggests, flipping upside down and making a face at him before flipping back to being right side up.

 

Youngbae just scowls at him and turns away.

 

“Ah, what is it? No need to be so angry. You’re just always so unhappy about it.” Seunghyun refrains from voicing how stupid he think surfacing is; they’ve had that fight before. Youngbae lets out a sigh and crosses his arms over his chest, turning to face Seunghyun again. 

 

“I know, I just...I want to see it, but it’s not allowed. Just once, you know? It will probably be a disappointment but...” Seunghyun laughs.

 

“Been talking to Daesung again?” 

 

Youngbae makes a slightly sour face, “He said not to get my hopes up...it might not live up to my expectations.”

 

Seunghyun flips upside down again before propelling himself toward Youngbae. “Sounds to me like he’s encouraging you to try. And besides! Who’s going to see you anyway?”

 

Youngbae makes a face, thinking. “Will you come with me?”

 

Seunghyun’s face falls into a devilish smirk and he rights himself so that he can look Youngbae in the eye. “Of course! There is nothing that I enjoy more than a good covert mission!”

 

Youngbae just gives him a look and rolls his eyes. “We can go tomorrow, early...”

 

“Meet you in the kelp fields!” Seunghyun sing-songs brightly before winking and swimming away. Youngbae wonders briefly what he’s gotten himself into, but decides that it’s a good thing that they are going so early as that doesn’t give him enough time to back out.

 

The sea had barely started to brighten as Youngbae and Seunghyun made their way from the kelp fields to the nearest cove. Seunghyun thought that a cove would be best because then there would be actual dry-land for Youngbae to see, and not just the vast and empty ocean.

 

Youngbae was nervous; being so close to shore was dangerous as it made it more likely that a human would be able to see him. When he voiced this fear, which he regretted instantly. Seunghyun just laughed and  reminded him of how early it was, saying that the humans were probably not even awake yet.

 

Youngbae kept reminding himself of that fact, it made him feel better rather surprisingly, and so it became a small chant inside his head; keeping him company as he and Seunghyun made their way closer to the cove.

 

Youngbae could see the water getting shallower ahead of them and stopped, looking around him for a moment. Seunghyun stops just a little ahead of him and turns around, cocking his head to side and raising an eyebrow in question.

 

“It gets shallow up ahead, like a beach. I don’t know where I should go...” Seunghyun nods slowly, understanding dawning across his face.

 

“Over this way!” He says, pointing to the left, “There are rocks over there and it doesn’t get any shallower.”

 

“How do you know this?” Youngbae says, shaking his head and frowning at his friend.

 

“Just because I’ve never cared about surfacing, doesn’t mean I don’t know basic features of the land near where I live.” Seunghyun says, puffing his chest out proudly. Youngbae rolls his eyes and swims past Seunghyun in the direction that he had suggested. “Hey! Wait for me!!” Seunghyun calls after him, frowning and swiftly trying to catch up.

 

It takes only a few moments for them to reach the rocky area that Seunghyun had been talking about. There were giant rocks towering from the ocean floor. Some were so tall that they broke the surface, while others waited just below. Youngbae could see that there were small, crude-looking wooden structures that jutted out from the dry land. Seunghyun grabs his arm and they stop.

 

“Alright, you ready?” Seunghyun asks, looking tilting his head to the side. Youngbae nods mutely, his eyes already looking twice their normal size. “Aish, you’re afraid! Just calm down, everything will be fine.” Seunghyun says, and Youngbae decides to believe him, even though he kind of looks uncertain and scared as well.

 

“Alright.”

 

“Right, so I will be at the bottom of this rock, waiting for you. You can go and have your look, and then come back down and we can go chase puffer fish or something.” Youngbae smiles despite his nerves, and nods. Seunghyun lets go of his arm, and Youngbae floats for a couple of seconds, his nerves causing him to hesitate.

 

He nods again for emphasis, and Seunghyun gives him an encouraging smile. Without waiting a second longer, he propels himself upward slowly, grabbing onto the rock in front of him as he goes. It feels like it takes a lifetime for him to get to the top, but once he does, he hesitates for only a moment before pushing his head up and into the dry air.  

 

The water running down his face obscures his view for only a moment as his eyes adjust to the waterless view in front of him. He brings both of his hands up and grips on the rock with one and running the other over his braided hair. Everything felt different up in the dry air, the rock under his hand was different in texture, and his hair felt coarser; he was surprised as he wasn’t even dry yet.

 

Youngbae shakes his head and looks around. The rocks were scattered about, jutting out of the ocean and looking like they were just floating; the view was intoxicating. The water looked blue and the rocks were a dry grey as well as a wet black. He could just see the shore from where he was floating, and he desperately wanted to touch the tan sand that he could see; wondering how different it would feel. Attached to the beach was the wooden structure that he had seen while underwater. It wasn’t well-kept, and looked rather old, but he could make out a little boat lashed to one side of it. He turns around to look out over the ocean and is amazed by how vast and calm it looked; enormous and flat, it glistened in the rising sun. 

 

He was so taken by the scene before him, that he missed the commotion on the beach behind him. He didn’t hear the two people talking until they had made their way onto the small boat. Youngbae’s eyes go wide as the noise registers in his head and he whips around, the ends of his braids flying around and away from his neck; the shell pieces attached to the ends hitting his back and neck as they came to a stop. He watches with alarm as the small boat and its two occupants move away from the shore, and ducks down low so that only his eyes and the top of his head are above the water. 

 

As the boat gets closer, Youngbae is better able to both see them and make out their voices. He could see two men in the boat; one wore plain silver and white clothing and had unruly black hair, while the other was wearing colorful clothing and had longer brown hair that Youngbae was certain would be soft to the touch. He inches back slowly, trying to make as few ripples in the water as possible as the boat came closer. The colorful man had a slightly nasally voice, and though Youngbae couldn’t understand what he was saying, it sounded like he was complaining. Youngbae could tell, however, that when the colorful man wasn’t complaining, his voice had a rich sound to it that he suddenly and desperately wanted to hear. 

 

Before he could stop himself he had moved closer to the boat. It had come to a stop at a rock near him but there was still a considerable expanse of open water between them. Youngbae catches himself before getting more than three feet from the rock, jerking back in surprise at his own actions and causing a much bigger splash than intended. He ducks completely under, for a moment, moving back until his back touches the rock. He waits for a couple of moments, catching his breath, before he dares to stick his head back up. His eyes widen in alarm as he sees a small animal paddling toward him from the boat. His reaction must have alerted it to his presence, but he didn’t remember seeing it in the boat. He knows that it must be the colorful man’s animal as he can hear the man yelling and can see him directing the other man to move the boat in order to chase after it.

 

When the animal reaches Youngbae, it swims around in front of him, unable to stay still for fear of drowning. Youngbae finds himself attracted to the animal, and he reaches a hand out to touch it. It moves it’s tan head under his hand and Youngbae is surprised by how soft it is. He looks up and sees the boat getting nearer, so he turns the animal around and pushes it lightly toward the boat. He keeps his eyes on the animal for a little while longer, forgetting his fear of being seen by the humans. He comes back to his senses suddenly, looking up at the nearing boat as the dog reaches it and is pulled in by the plainly dressed man. Without meaning to, his eyes catch those of the colorful man and they remain locked on the man for several seconds.

 

The man’s eyes go wide and he leans forward as if getting ready to either say something or point, and Youngbae snaps out of his stare and dips quickly back below the surface. He swims quickly to the bottom where he finds Seunghyun, his fin wrapped securely around a part of the rock, fast asleep. Youngbae grabs his arm and tugs, waking Seunghyun up sharply.

  
“Let’s get out of here!” He says, his eyes still wide and his voice reverberating with urgency. Seunghyun just nods, too jarred and sleepy to actually comprehend what was going on.


	2. Chapter 2

Jiyong was sleeping peacefully, his many blankets were pulled up to his chin and he was curled deep into the multiple pillows, lightly snoring. The room was dark, the shutters closed tightly against the damp sea breeze, and there was barely a sound that could be heard outside of the light crash of the waves against the shore. The large door on the far end of the room, opposite the bed, opens slowly to reveal a thin man in plain silver and white clothing.

 

He presses his back against the door to keep it open, and gently pulls at the handle of a silver cart to try and get it into the room as quietly as possible. Jiyong liked his breakfast, an assortment of fruit and thick pieces of bread and cheese, to be waiting at the table underneath his window for him to wake up. The man, a young servant by the name of Seungri, had been serving Jiyong for years and so knew that he must be as silent as possible. There were few things that the Prince hated more than being woken up, and it was in Seungri’s best interest that he not do so.

 

He pulls on the cart again, but it refuses to move. He looks down and sees that it has become caught on the rug leading into the room. Focused on his task, Seungri tugs harder, knowing that he needs to get the cart in and himself out as quickly as possible. The extra force causes the wheels of the cart to pop over the fold in the rug and land with a much louder than intended _clang_ on the other side.

 

Seungri whips his head around to stare at the bed, hoping that the Prince is still sleeping. He can’t see much because of how dark it is in the room, but he can hear the rustling of the sheets as the Prince moves around. Seungri makes a face and tries to move as quickly and quietly as possible to the table. He stops the cart next to the table and is just turning around to leave when he hears the blankets shift on the bed.

 

“What are you doing?” Jiyong asks, his voice a sleep-riddled drawl of disdain. Seungri freezes where he is and turns his head to look at the bed.

 

“Dropping off your breakfast, like always.” Seungri says, and immediately regrets it as the Prince’s eyebrow shoots up, and his mouth turns down in a frown. “Sire! Dropping off your breakfast, sire. So that you could have it when you woke up.” Seungri winces, knowing that his voice had sounded unnatural.

 

Jiyong sighs and pushes the blankets off of himself, “Open the windows.” he says, waving his hand toward them before using it to rub the sleep out of his eyes. “What time is it?” He asks as he shoves his feet into a pair of slippers and shuffles his way over to the table.

 

“It’s just before sunrise” Seungri says, as he pulls open one of the shutters. Jiyong pauses, his hand on the lid of the platter, and looks up at Seungri. “Sire.” Seungri finishes quickly, moving on to the next window.

 

Jiyong sighs heavily and lifts the lid off of the platter; the sun had yet to rise and he was already annoyed with Seungri. His eyes flick over the food as he places the lid carefully to the side. He liked having a cold breakfast as it meant that it could be left for him and he wouldn’t have to see anybody until he was ready for the day. Though he craved it, Jiyong needed to prepare for social interaction. Eating his breakfast alone underneath the window gave him the chance to collect his ever-churning thoughts; unfortunately, this morning he was far too jarred to relax properly.

 

Seungri opens the window above Jiyong’s head and moves to stand in front of the table. “Is there anything I can get for you, sire?” he asks, even though Jiyong is busy staring out the window, rolling a grape between his fingers.

 

Jiyong smiles at how difficult it is for Seungri to spit out the last word, “Coffee,” he says, before turning to look at Seungri, a bright and excited look in his eye. “but put it in a container, I want to go out in my boat.” With that said, he pops the grape he had been playing with into his mouth and reaches for more fruit, effectively dismissing Seungri from his presence.

 

Seungri nods, bows, and moves away toward the door. Going out in the boat means more time with the Prince; more time with the Prince means verbal abuse. Seungri decides to make sure that the Prince’s dog, Gaho, is ready for the day. If the dog comes then the Prince is more likely to pay attention to it than to Seungri.

 

Jiyong stares out the window, each bite of his breakfast being taken absentmindedly as he considers the day; he should have told Seungri to get Gaho ready, but knowing the servant for as long as Jiyong had, he knew that Seungri would probably have already decided to fetch the dog in the off chance that its presence would detract from his many faults.

 

Jiyong smiles to himself and finishes off the rest of his food, wiping his hands lightly on a napkin before dabbing it delicately at his mouth. He sets the napkin down and walks to his wardrobe, opening it so that he can peruse his options for the day. He ruffles a hand through his hair, crinkling his nose as he turns to look at himself in a mirror. He would need to do something new with it soon; hanging just below his ears, he was tired of its uniformity. He ruffles it again and lets out a sigh, turning back to rummage through his clothing.

 

When Seungri returns a short half hour after departing, Jiyong is sitting at the breakfast table, fully-clothed and ready to go. Jiyong lifts his eyes when Seungri knocks at the door before opening it and moving inside.

 

“Everything is ready, sire! I’ve prepared Gaho and your coffee and they are both waiting for your arrival in the main hall.” Jiyong smiles slightly before nodding and standing up. He walks out the door with a casual elegance that Seungri would swear that he must practice, and moves down the carpeted hallway toward the main staircase.

 

Seungri follows quickly behind him, making sure that the door to his room is closed before proceeding. They make it down to the main hall where one of the maids is holding onto Gaho’s leash. She bows and smiles prettily at him, and he nods at her, taking the leash from her hand and moving on toward the door. She frowns slightly and looks at Seungri as he collects the coffee from the tray next to her.

 

“He doesn’t even look.” She complains, a pout crossing her face. Seungri rolls his eyes, but still pats her on the shoulder comfortingly.

 

“You shouldn’t expect him to.”

 

“He looks at you!” She says quietly, aware that the Prince was waiting at the door.

 

“Yes, he looks at me so that he can see what I’m doing wrong.” He smiles at her reassuringly and moves quickly to motion for the guards to let them out of the castle. The doors slowly creak open and Jiyong starts forward.

 

“Took you long enough, Seungri.” Jiyong says, his eyes staring straight ahead. Seungri hurries to catch up and walk just behind the Prince.

 

“Yes, silly maid needed to be spoken to.” he says, and Jiyong laughs lightly.

 

Jiyong takes a deep breath and allows a smile to cross his face as he tilts his head back. “The sun is barely rising over the ocean.” He states, and Seungri just nods. “It is going to be a wonderful day, despite the unfortunate beginning.” Seungri nods again, licking his lips nervously and hoping that Jiyong soon forgets his early morning blunder.

 

The castle sits atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. One small path from the castle gate follows the cliff for a short while before sloping down and ending in a small cove where Jiyong’s own personal rowboat sits tied to an old and rundown dock. It takes the two men only a few minutes to reach the cove, where they can see the sun as it rises more fully above the water. Jiyong calls out his amazement at the sight, and Seungri happily agrees as they move onto the dock. Seungri grabs the oars from their hiding place behind a rock, and places them in the boat before helping Jiyong get Gaho situated.

 

“He’s been so good today. Haven’t you Gaho!” Jiyong says, holding the dog close to him and petting him affectionately.

 

“Yes, sire, not even so much as a growl so far.” Seungri returns as he slowly steps into the boat. Jiyong scowls at Seungri for making the boat rock more than he deemed necessary, and settles back into his seat. Seungri hands Jiyong his coffee, and starts to move the small boat away from the dock.

 

“Row carefully! You’re splashing me.” Jiyong complains, frowning deeply as he brushes small drops of water off of his red pants.

 

“It’s barely anything.” Seungri mutters, causing Jiyong to kick him roughly in the shin. Seungri lets out a small shout of pain and frowns.

 

“Keep rowing and don’t hit the rocks.” Jiyong says, nodding at the towering rocks around them. Seungri nods, a frown still on his face.

 

“I know where they are.” He says, a slight whine in his voice. He maneuvers the boat around the many rocks in the cove slowly. They come out close to the edge of the cove, where the ocean opens up into bright clear water and the rocks are further apart and less prevalent.

 

Jiyong was busy admiring the way the sunlight glistened off of the water, so Seungri slowly allowed the boat to come to a stop next to one of the last few giant rocks. Jiyong points out to the right of the boat and looks back to Seungri.

 

“That way.” He says, “So we can see the ocean away from the castle.” Seungri nods and is about to start moving when he hears a soft splash, followed by a much larger one. His eyes go wide as they register that Gaho is no longer in the boat.

 

Jiyong notices at the same time, and moves quickly to the left side of the boat, looking over the edge and calling for Gaho to come back.

 

“Gaho! Gaho come here boy!” He shouts frantically as he watches the dog paddling further away from him. He directs Seungri to start following the dog, and points to another rock not too far off that seemed to be where Gaho was swimming to.

 

Jiyong turns back to Seungri, wondering why he was taking so long to get the boat in motion. When he turns back, he notices that Gaho was swimming back toward them. He rakes his eyes over the scene in front of him, trying to figure out what it was that had made Gaho jump in. Suddenly, his eyes lock with those of another man whose head is floating just above the surface of the water. He can’t make out too many details, and curious to know more he leans forward, noting that the man has braided, black hair. He’s just about to alert Seungri to the man’s presence when his head dips down below the surface.

 

Jiyong blinks, and leans forward further, wondering if it had been a trick of the light; there was no way that the man could have just disappeared under the water like that, without a sound and without resurfacing within the visible area. Jiyong makes a frustrated noise and turns to find a rather wet Seungri trying to keep a similarly wet Gaho from jumping all over him. Jiyong files the mysterious man away to think about later, and pulls the oars over.

  
They were going to take a quick peek around the rock that Gaho had made a beeline for. Jiyong wonders briefly if Seungri can swim before smiling; he will find out soon enough.

~~~

Youngbae pulls at Seunghyun’s arm again, trying to get him to move away. Unfortunately for him, Seunghyun had snapped out of his stupor and was now curious as to what it was exactly that was causing Youngbae such distress. He pulls back on his arm, forcing Youngbae to come to a halt directly next to him, and looks up. 

 

Seunghyun’s eyes go wide as he sees the bottom of a little boat floating above them. They go even wider, if at all possible, when he sees someone in the water next to it. He grabs onto Youngbae’s arm and pulls him away, both of them swimming as fast as possible to get away from the scene undetected.

 

“You were seen?” Seunghyun asks, incredulity dripping from every syllable. “There was no one out there! You were hiding by a rock! How did you...?” He can’t finish his rant; the look on Youngbae’s face, pure and total sadness, was enough to calm Seunghyun’s frying nerves. “I’m sorry, I know you didn’t mean to....What did it look like up there?”

 

Youngbae smiles softly and looks down at the ground. He silently thanks Seunghyun for being so understanding, and looks around himself briefly. They were in a cave just a little ways off from the kelp fields where they normally go to rest and talk. Youngbae was feeling calmer mentally, but his heart was still beating at an irregularly fast pace and the mental calm that he was experiencing wasn’t complete; he couldn’t get the colorful man out of his thoughts. It had only been twenty minutes, but Youngbae knew that he would probably never get the man’s face out of his head.

 

“It was different. Clear, blue...everything was sharp and the sun glittered off the top of the ocean.” He says, and Seunghyun nods, tilting his head to the side and urging Youngbae to continue. “Everything felt different; my hair, the rocks. I can’t explain it, but it was different.” 

 

Seunghyun looks at him, arms folded across his chest, “and the human?” Youngbae sighs and looks away for a minute.

 

“There were two.” He says, and Seunghyun’s eyes widen. “One dressed plainly and the other wore many colors. They also had a little animal with them, it noticed me.” Seunghyun nods, encouraging him to continue. “The animal was weird, it had...hair? It’s head was soft under my hand where it was still dry...” He drifts off, falling into thoughts of the man in the colorful clothes and the fact that he couldn’t tear his eyes away after they met.

 

“Yo, Youngbae!” Seunghyun says, moving closer and waving his hand in front of his friend’s face. “What else? Come on!” He was whining, but he really wanted to know what happened.

 

“Ah, yeah, right, sorry.” Youngbae says, shaking his head. He pauses again to note that his braids don’t clatter against the back of his neck like they did when he was above water. He had never really noticed that before. “Ah, yes. Well the two men were trying to find the animal, and so they were getting closer and I couldn’t help but to keep watching it as it swam toward them...”

 

“And so they saw you?” Seunghyun presses, impatient with the pace of the story.

 

Youngbae shakes his head again, “No, just one of them; the man in the colorful clothes. I looked him in the eyes, and I couldn’t look away. Then I remembered where I was and came to get you.”

 

Seunghyun nods, “So, which one was it that was swimming above us as we were leaving?”

 

Youngbae’s eyes go wide and he grabs Seunghyun by the arm, “You didn’t tell me! I didn’t see them in the water!” He looks slightly panicked and Seunghyun almost regrets bringing it up.

 

“No? I thought you saw. Only one was in the water.” Seunghyun waves his hand in front of his face, trying to make it sound like it was no big deal. “But that doesn’t matter, we got away, and humans can’t swim this deep.” The sudden pang in Youngbae’s heart at that thought leaves him confused and unsettled. “What I want to know is what it was about this human that had you so struck.” A smirk makes its way onto Seunghyun’s face. “You barely look at anyone down here, no matter how often they stare or try to get your attention...” Youngbae’s face goes red and he turns around, trying to keep his face hidden.

 

“I don’t know what you are talking about Seunghyun. We should head back to the city...” He was mumbling, and he wonders if Seunghyun can even hear him.

 

“And do what? Nothing? No, you’re not getting out of this.” Seunghyun says, spinning Youngbae around so that they are facing each other again. There was a bright smile on Seunghyun’s face, and Youngbae knew that no matter what he said, he was never going to live this moment down.

 

“Aish, I dunno, his hair was brown, it looked soft and like it would have fallen forward to cover his face but he was using something to hold it back.” Youngbae realizes a second too late that this is far more information than he should have been able to give after only staring for a short while -- _ and from such a long distance _ \-- Seunghyun’s smile turns into a smirk, and Youngbae blushes. 

 

“Oh?” Seunghyun says, gesturing with his hand for Youngbae to continue.

 

“Ahh, yeah. His voice was, um... Just, I don’t know, Seunghyun!” He says, frustration and embarrassment getting the better of him.

 

“Yah, yah! Calm down, I’m only teasing.” Seunghyun says, laughing and pushing at Youngbae’s shoulder. “Looks like you got a crush on a human! I’m telling your brother!” He says, laughing loudly and starting to swim away.

 

Youngbae is frozen for just a second before the words sink in, “Yah! No! Don’t do that!” He shouts as he races after Seunghyun, trying to catch up so that he can stop him.

 

Youngbae eventually catches up, but by then they are both laughing and Seunghyun assures him that he won’t tell his brother anything. Youngbae rolls his eyes. “ I don’t have a crush on a human.”

 

“Yeah, yeah whatever you say!” Seunghyun replies, a smile working its way into his voice. Youngbae is about to retort, his face falling into a pout, but he’s cut off by Seunghyun. “We should go and see if there is anything we need to do for the festival.”

 

Youngbae nods and leads the way to find something to do. He’s secretly glad for the distraction as his mind can’t stop replaying the look on the colorful man’s face when they locked eyes. He wishes that he knew the man’s name, and maybe could even speak to him...Just once. That’s all that he wants. He shakes his head and continues to lead Seunghyun to the celebration grounds.

~~

 

“Nothing?” Jiyong shouts, leaning back in the boat and picking at his nails. “Are you certain? Gaho wouldn’t just dive into the water for nothing, you know!” Gaho’s leash was wrapped tightly around his hand, even though the dog hadn’t tried to jump in again. 

 

“No, there is nothing here, Sire.” Seungri says, his voice sounding tired, “No holes in the rock, no animals nearby.” Jiyong just nods, his face blank. 

 

“Alright then, what are you still doing in the water, you’ll get eaten by a shark or something and then how am I supposed to get back to the castle?” Jiyong says, tilting his head back and closing his eyes, letting the sun wash over his face.

 

Seungri grumbles a little in annoyance and moves toward the boat, pulling himself up and in while Jiyong soaks up the sun. He hadn’t expected Seungri to be able to find anything after the first couple of minutes; the rest of the time that Seungri was in the water was basically just for Jiyong’s amusement.

 

“Where now, Sire?” Seungri asks, Jiyong heaves a weary sigh and waves his hand at him.

 

“Back to the castle. I’ve decided that the ocean is not the best place for Gaho to be right now.” Jiyong allows his eyes to take in the way that Seungri looks, “And you’re wet.” He says. Seungri just nods and turns the boat around.

  
After docking they walk back to the castle in silence. Jiyong knows that he saw a man in the water and even though he knew straight away that Seungri wouldn’t find anything when they got to the rock, he was still terribly disappointed. He hadn’t been able to make out many of the man’s features because of the distance, but the things that he could see were burned into his brain. The rows of braided black hair, the well-defined face...Jiyong wouldn’t soon forget the man in the water.


	3. Chapter 3

The festival would start at sundown that night, and Youngbae couldn’t help but to wonder at how ironic it was that he was helping to prepare for a celebration in honor of the old stories about merpeople becoming human. They called it the “festival of Ariel”, and while it was believed that a lot of the myths and stories that surrounded this celebration were fake (because what self-respecting mer would fall in love with a human?), Youngbae was a firm believer that at least some of them were real; Just because it hadn’t happened to his people, didn’t mean it hadn’t happened in other kingdoms. 

 

The popularity of this festival always brought back Youngbae’s questions about why it was only the 15-year-old royals who got a peek at the world above the surface. This year was different, though, as he had been up to the surface just a short week before; he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

 

It had started with just noticing how things felt beneath his fingertips, and had progressed to him comparing that with what things had felt like above the water. Next came the dreams, haunting him through the night; images of the colorful man dancing through his sleeping mind. Youngbae looked tired, worn, and as though he were somehow lost. Seunghyun was worried, and so were their other friends and acquaintances. In just one short week he had gone from his normal upbeat and carefree self, to a mere shadow of his former self, always lost in thought and looking over his shoulder and up above.

 

“That’s it.” Seunghyun says, grabbing Youngbae by the shoulder and shaking him lightly. They were helping string up colorful shells in one of the main festival areas, and the number of times that Youngbae had almost cut himself was becoming ridiculous. 

 

“What?” Youngbae asks, frustration cutting through his tired voice.

 

Seunghyun’s eyes soften, unable to be mad at his pining friend, “We’re going to get you some help.” He says softly, grabbing Youngbae’s hand and pulling him away from the decorations. “I told you not to crush on a human.” He mutters, but it was loud enough that Youngbae could hear him. His eyes go wide and he tries to pull away.

 

“I’m not! You never said that!” Youngbae whispers frantically, hoping that no one nearby had heard Seunghyun. Seunghyun just rolls his eyes and tugs harder on Youngbae’s hand.

 

“Come on. You can’t lie to me. We’re going to see Daesung.” Seunghyun hoped that going to see the wise man would offer them a solution to this problem. He wasn’t terribly hopeful (because everyone knows that the stories about becoming human aren’t true), but he knew that he needed to do something for his friend.

 

Youngbae just nods, knowing that it will be better to just be quiet and follow Seunghyun at this point. He knows that talking to Daesung has the potential to just cause him even more pain; but he can’t help but to hope that Daesung might offer him some type of relief.

Daesung lived in semi-seclusion just past the outermost ring of dwellings. He wasn’t terribly old, but had been gifted with what the court advisors had called ‘extreme wisdom’, and as such, he was who every mer visited when they needed advice. He had always been rather close with Youngbae, who enjoyed talking with him and had been known to spend hours just sitting and talking to the wise man.

 

Seunghyun didn’t bother knocking before pushing open the door and easing his way inside, Youngbae being pulled in behind him.

 

“Ah, good afternoon!” Daesung says, looking up from a small reflective rock on the floor. He smiles brightly at the two mermen and gestures for them to come in further. “I was staring at my reflection.” He says, only a little ashamedly. “I was thinking that maybe I should get out more,  but judging by Youngbae’s appearance, I would have to conclude that that might just cause me more strife than happiness.” His smile was still in place, but it was slightly more pitying.

 

Youngbae sighs and runs a hand over his face, “Do I really look that bad?” He asks, moving further into the room and letting his face drop in defeat.

 

“Well, it’s nothing some sleep and happiness couldn’t fix. So it’s not permanent!” Daesung says, putting his arm around Youngbae’s shoulders, trapping the ends of his braids against his neck. Youngbae notes quickly that he can’t really feel the shells as sharply as he could if he were above the water, but quickly shoves the thought away.

 

“It might be.” Seunghyun says, crossing his arms over his chest and allowing his mouth to fall into a flat line. Daesung looks at him quickly, trying to discern the problem without having to ask, before he directs his attention back to Youngbae’s face. 

 

“Hmm, You haven’t come by lately.” Daesung says, moving away from Youngbae’s side so that he can face him. “I was surprised, normally you come in right after a surfacing...” Youngbae turns his head away and looks down. “Ahhh, yes, I see.” Daesung moves away from him toward the far side of the room. “What happened?”

 

“Seunghyun and I went to a cove near the kelp fields...and...” He can’t bring himself to say it. It was against the law to surface unless given special permission, and while it wasn’t strictly enforced, it just wasn’t done.

 

Daesung smiles and nods knowingly as he reaches up to grab a bottle off of a shelf along the far wall. “What did you see?” He asks, rummaging through a box on the floor.

 

“A man.” He says, and it’s much easier to get out than he thought.

 

“Just one?” Daesung asks as he places the things he had collected onto a flat stone off to the side of the room. Youngbae just stares at him, disbelief written across his face. Daesung looks up when he notices that no one had responded. “What? You didn’t go to the cove alone, why would I expect a human to?”

 

Seunghyun nudges Youngbae and nods toward Daesung, “Just tell him, honestly it won’t get better unless you say something.” Youngbae scowls lightly before moving away toward the wall, letting his hand trail along the bottles lined up on one of the shelves.

 

“There were two, and a weird animal.” He says. Daesung smiles as he watches Youngbae’s face go from solemn to happily reminiscent. 

 

“Mmm, yes.” Daesung says, turning away from Youngbae again to rummage through a bowl of colorful stones. Youngbae let’s his hand drop from the shelf of bottles.

 

“One of them wore colorful clothing...and he saw me.” Youngbae pauses, taking a deep breath before continuing, “I couldn’t look away. When our eyes met I couldn’t move, and it took me a moment to come back to my senses.” He was frowning again, but this time he was staring down at his hands.

 

Seunghyun clears his throat and turns to Daesung, “So...can you fix him?” Youngbae turns to look at him with confusion written plainly across his face, and Daesung just laughs.

 

“I can’t ‘fix’ him, he’s not a thing that has been broken.” Seunghyun’s cheeks turn pink and he flicks his fin nervously. “Besides, we don’t know the problem.” Daesung turns his stare from Seunghyun’s embarrassed face to Youngbae. “You say that you couldn’t look away, but you did, so what is the problem?”

 

Youngbae stares at Daesung for a few moments, collecting his thoughts. He knows that Daesung is very well aware of what the problem is, and for a second he’s upset that Daesung wants him to say it out loud when he already knows. He follows Seunghyun’s nervous lead, and flicks his fin, looking away for a second.

 

“I may not still be staring at his face, but I haven’t looked away.” Daesung smiles, at him and claps his hands.

 

“Wait, that doesn’t make sense.” Seunghyun says, waving his hand in front of him and shaking his head. Youngbae just glares at him before turning his attention back to Daesung who was fiddling with the things he had collected earlier.

 

“He means that he can still see him.” Daesung says, only slightly impatiently. “You could do to learn how to speak poetically.” Seunghyun blushes again and folds his hands behind his back, looking away. Youngbae laughs lightly, happy to have the attention off of himself for the moment.

 

The moment ends abruptly as Daesung narrows his focus back onto him.

“Have you tried seeing him again?” Daesung asks, and Youngbae watches as Seunghyun turns his head abruptly away from the floor to look at him.

 

Youngbae pauses before answering. He hadn’t actually surfaced since the first time; but he had, on nights when the dreams were too much for him and he couldn’t handle waiting, gone out to the cove and swum around. He had seen the boat in the water each time that he went, but he never dared to surface, worried about what would happen if he did. He wouldn’t get too close to the boat, for fear that whoever was in it - _ he hoped it was the colorful man- _ would see him beneath the surface. But he would swim around it and longed to peek above the water to see it more clearly.

 

He shakes his head. “Not really. I’ve visited the cove...but I can’t bring myself to surface again.” Youngbae notes the raised eyebrow that Daesung sent his way when he paused in the middle of his sentence.

 

“Ahh, and was he there, do you think?” Daesung asks, his voice going soft, as if he were speaking at night and needed to be careful not to wake anyone.

 

“The boat was always out. It was in different places, but it was always there.” Youngbae tried not to think about the implications of the boat always being out. He tried not to imagine that the colorful man had found him to be so intriguing that he too couldn’t sleep at night. Youngbae tried not to imagine that the image of his face kept the colorful man up at night; but it was almost impossible to stop those thoughts from happening.

 

Daesung nods, allowing a secretive smile to make its way across his face. He beckons Youngbae closer and grabs him by the shoulders, turning him to face away. “Look down at the reflective stone, and tell me what you see.” Youngbae closes his eyes briefly, not wanting to face his reflection, but ultimately opening his eyes to look, curiosity getting the better of him.

 

“My face.” He says, before tilting his head to the side and noting how tired he looks. Daesung shakes his head and pulls him back further from the mirror. 

 

“Now what do you see?” There was very little light filtering into the room from the sun. They were deep enough in the ocean for sunlight to be difficult to come by, so even though his eyes were used to the lack of light, seeing his reflection in such a small mirror from so far away was rather difficult.

 

“My forehead.” He says, picking out the lightest thing that he could see. “My cheeks...” He says, leaning forward just a little and squinting to see better. “My hair; I can see my hair.” Daesung nods.

 

“He was probably further away than that...with a better angle and more sunlight, but that is probably all that he saw of you.” Youngbae isn’t certain what he had been expecting from the exercise, but the devastation caused by those words was most definitely not it.

 

“That’s a little harsh.” Seunghyun says, gliding forward and grabbing Youngbae by the shoulder. The look of pain on his already tired and worn face was a little too much for Seunghyun to bear.

 

“Maybe, but it’s about the same as what Youngbae would have been able to make out of the man’s face.” Youngbae lets those words sink in, tilting his head to the side. It was true, he hadn’t really been able to make much of the colorful man’s face, but the sharp angles and the fall of his hair were embedded deep in Youngbae’s memory.

 

“Can you help me?” Youngbae asks, looking away from his reflection and turning to stare at Daesung. Daesung raises his eyebrows taps his chin.

 

“What do you want? Talking about it may lessen the pain, but that’s not going to eliminate it.” He grabs the colorful stone that he had picked out of the bowl earlier and rolls it in his hands. “You could surface again, and try to find the man. But he could be frightened of you, or he could be less enchanting than you remember.”

 

“So you can’t help.” Seunghyun says, and he feels an intense amount of disappointment; he had hoped that Daesung could fix the problem.

 

“All I’ve been labeled as having is ‘wisdom’. If you wanted something more, you should have gone elsewhere.” Seunghyun looks away, feeling chastised.

 

“No.” Youngbae says, and all eyes focus on him. “Which do you suggest? Which will I regret least?”

 

“Oh!” Daesung says, his eyes lighting up. “A fair question. Well, do you want to see him again?” 

 

“Yes, of course.” Youngbae says, furrowing his eyebrows and staring at Daesung.

 

“Then you will least regret trying to see him.” Daesung pauses as Youngbae nods, “But, again, it all depends on what happens when you see him.”

 

Seunghyun waves his hand in impatience. “I have a question.” Daesung turns to him, a small smile on his face. “Could he go up on dry land? What if the man wants to see him. The humans can’t know about us.”

 

Daesung tilts his head to the side and makes a face, thinking. “Well,” he says, turning to look at Youngbae, “You could still breathe above the water, right? You could still see?” Youngbae nods.

 

“It took a second for my eyes to adjust, but yes, I could.” Daesung turns toward Seunghyun with a bright smile on his face.

 

“There’s your answer then! He should be able to adapt.”

 

“This is so confusing, if we can leave the water and look like humans, why aren’t we allowed, and why are we told that those stories aren’t real?” Youngbae very desperately wanted to know the reason behind it; what if there was something horrible that happened to mer who left the water.

 

“As with many things, it became necessary to hide it. If we don’t want the humans trying to find us or take advantage of us, they mustn’t know about us. So we fall into myth for them, and our abilities fall into strictly guarded stories for us.” Daesung says, and Youngbae feels like there must be a catch; there must be something that could go wrong. “Now run along Youngbae.” Daesung says, coming up next to him so that he can whisper, “and hurry out to see this man.” Youngbae’s heart starts to beat faster, the possibilities are terrifying. “Take Seunghyun when you leave, he makes me uneasy.” Daesung says, gesturing toward the tall and rather imposing merman.

 

Youngbae laughs and shakes his head; leave it to the two people that he considers his closest friends to be unable to be in the same room together without him there. He nods and says his goodbyes, pulling Seunghyun out by the arm. As they swim slowly back to festival grounds, both lost in thought, Seunghyun turns to Youngbae.

 

“Are you going to do it?” He asks, his voice a low whisper. Youngbae can hear the slight quake in his friend’s voice, and wishes for the thousandth time that he hadn’t surfaced at all.

 

“I have to, Seunghyun, or else I won’t ever feel better.” Seunghyun just nods. Just before they get to the festival grounds Seunghyun stops and pulls Youngbae into a hug.

 

“You should go now, while everyone is busy. Who knows he might be up there searching.” Seunghyun pauses and Youngbae wraps his arms around his friend’s back. “Be careful.”

 

Seunghyun pulls away and moves back. Youngbae nods and waves before they both turn and head in opposite directions.


	4. Chapter 4

Jiyong was glad that he had the ability to go down to the small cove alone. Sure, he had to sneak out after he was finally able to convince Seungri to leave him be, but it was a small price to pay for the peace of mind that going down to the cove alone offered him.

 

He was having trouble sleeping, and focusing, but he was certain that if only he could sleep then he would be more able to focus. It wasn’t that he couldn’t fall asleep, it was that once he was asleep, the dreams would start; a haunting flow of images racing across his brain. All he could see was the face of the man from the cove, bobbing into his view before disappearing beneath the water and out of sight. Sometimes it was just images, and other times he would move closer, trying to see more of the face. No matter how close he got, the image never got clearer and the man would always dip below the surface before he could really get a good view. 

 

Jiyong would wake up from these dreams drenched in a cold sweat, and left with feelings of loss, confusion, and need. He didn’t know exactly what he needed, he didn’t know what was happening to him. All that he knew was that he couldn’t get the man’s face out of his head, and he needed to see him again, be sure that the man was real and not some tortuous figment of his imagination.

 

The path wasn’t completely dark, as the sun had yet to fully go down as he made his way along it. He carried a lamp anyway, knowing that he wouldn’t be making his way back until much later. He had started coming down earlier and earlier as the week wore on. It had started with him coming down in the middle of the night and rowing out a short way before just lying there and waiting, hoping to either fall asleep or feel different. By now, a full week later, he was going down before the sun had even had a chance to set. It was a rather rapid progression, but his mind was too full to be set at ease in any other way. Seungri didn’t understand and no one else in the court was what you would consider the ‘talk about your feelings’ sort.

 

He lets out a soft sigh as he makes his way down the sloping hill that ended in the sandy beach of the cove. His boat was sitting just where he left it, and he smiles to himself as he walks slowly onto the rickety dock and lets his fingers run over the rough wood. He takes a deep breath and gathers the oars, slowly settling himself down into the boat. He smiles to himself again as he dips the oars into the water and slowly gets the boat into motion.

 

Jiyong liked to imagine, while he was sitting in his boat on the water, that the man was somewhere nearby; that the mysterious man was just as affected as him and came back to try and see him. It probably wasn’t a healthy thought, but he couldn’t help it, and he wasn’t about to stop entertaining it as it made him feel better about his  _ slight _ obsession. 

 

He shakes his head and chuckles lightly to himself, making his hair fall into his face. It was just long enough that when it fell into his face it covered his eyes. He shakes his head again, moving the hair out of his eyes, and turns to look out over the cove. The water was calm around the rocks, but Jiyong knew that there were many rocks that were hiding just beneath the surface that he wouldn’t be able to see as it grew dark. He normally just rowed out to a clear space and sat there, patiently waiting for something to happen. 

 

Jiyong looks out toward one of the towering rocks closest to him. He could have sworn that he had just heard a noise from that direction. He sits up straighter and squints, trying to make out if there was anything over there in the darkening shadows. He sees movement, and suddenly his eyes catch on a pair of bright eyes. He scrambles forward, trying to get a better look, but they’re gone. 

 

He sits down, suddenly very disappointed, and puts his hand over his chest where he can feel his heart beating at an incredible rate. Before he can calm himself down, he hears something in the water next to him, and he turns his head slowly; almost afraid of what he might see. There, in the water beside him, was the face that had been haunting his dreams both while awake and asleep. He starts to reach forward, but stops himself when the man moves slowly backward.

 

“I’m sorry.” Jiyong says, his voice coming out far more softly than he had intended. The man hesitates briefly before coming closer; and even in the fading light Jiyong can see that though his eyes are mainly a deep brown in color, they seem to also reflect light. The man moves forward once more, coming to a stop at an angle where both are able to see each other properly, and Jiyong drinks in his features, filling in the places that his mental image was missing. 

 

“Do you live in the village?” Jiyong asks, wanting desperately to hear the man’s voice. Instead of replying, he just shakes his head ‘no’, and Jiyong finds himself more confused and slightly frustrated.

 

He gets distracted however, as the man lifts a hand out of the water and points toward a group of shorter rocks just a short distance away. The man nods to him, and then dips below the surface, re-appearing at the group of rocks a few short seconds later. He maneuvers the boat over toward the rocks, and watches entranced, as the man nods at him and turns away. He assumes that the man must have found a rock that he could sit on, as suddenly Jiyong is able to see the man’s full upper body. 

 

He takes a moment to just stare; broad shouldered with muscular arms and a well-defined stomach (what he could see of it anyway as part was still under water). The man was very attractive, with his rows of braided hair, each braid ending in a different shell. The man’s face turns red and Jiyong realizes that he’s been staring. A slow smile crosses his face and he stops the boat close so that he can see him as the sunlight fades and the only light left is the moon and the weak glow from his lamp.

 

Jiyong decides to try again, “Where are you from?” His voice still has the whispery quality to it that it had held before; he wishes that he could talk normally. He watches the man take a deep breath before looking down at his fingers.

 

He hesitates briefly before pointing to the water and looking back up. “Here.” the man says slowly, as if uncertain about his voice. Jiyong is immediately captivated, though confused by the statement. The man’s voice was rich and full, and Jiyong just wanted to hear him say more.

 

“In the ocean?” Jiyong asks, confusion coloring his voice as he looks around him for a suitable place that the man could live. The man just nods, and Jiyong shifts a little closer in the hopes of maybe figuring out how that could work by just being nearer. “What’s your name?” Jiyong asks, and though he’s starting to get frustrated with having to ask all of the questions, he can’t stop himself from asking because he’s so curious.

 

“Youngbae.” The man says, looking down for a moment afterward, making Jiyong fear that the man won’t say anything else.

 

“Youngbae,” Jiyong repeats quietly, looking off into the distance for a moment before directing his attention back. Youngbae’s face was a little red again and he was fiddling with his fingers.

 

“What is your name?” Youngbae asks, and it’s in the same measured and slow tone that he had used previously; making Jiyong long to hear how Youngbae would say his name, and wonder if speaking is difficult for him.

 

“Jiyong.” He says simply, wanting to get past the introductions so that he can learn more about the mysterious Youngbae.

 

But Youngbae seems to be in less of a rush. He nods, a slow smile forming across his face and causing Jiyong to feel a little faint -- _ It’s not fair for his smile to be so captivating.-- _ Jiyong thinks as he remembers the smiles of other people that he knew.

 

“Jiyong.” Youngbae says, a small smile tilting up the corners of his mouth. Jiyong’s mouth sets into a slight pout.

 

“Is my name funny?” He asks, knowing that he’s probably more offended than he needs to be.

 

Youngbae’s eyes go wide and he shakes his head, making the shells on his braids clatter against his back and neck. “No, no!” He says, and Jiyong notes that his speaking is becoming more fluid, more normal sounding. “No, I like it.” Youngbae says, his face turning red again.

 

“Aren’t you cold?” Jiyong asks, and Youngbae tilts his head to the side in silent question. Jiyong gestures toward his shirtless body, “You’re in the water with no shirt on, aren’t you cold?” Youngbae shakes his head.

 

“Why would I be cold? The water is warm.” Jiyong can’t argue with his logic, so he changes his angle.

 

“Why are you still in the water? You can come up into the boat, it will be easier to talk...” He sees Youngbae hesitate, his fingers twitching and fiddling just above the water.

 

“I like the water.” Youngbae says after a couple of seconds, looking down at the water as he speaks. Jiyong nods and watches as Youngbae fidgets, pushing his hands back under the water and against what Jiyong assumes must be the rock that he is sitting on.

 

Youngbae pushes himself up very slowly, keeping his eyes trained on his stomach as he lifts himself just a little bit further out of the water. Jiyong watches with fascination as more of Youngbae’s skin emerges. Youngbae moves just high enough that his full stomach is out of the water, but pauses before continuing, looking up and into Jiyong’s curious face.

 

“I...don’t think that I can.” He says, and Jiyong tilts his head to the side.

 

“Why not? Are you afraid?” Jiyong asks, and Youngbae shakes his head. He seems to fight with himself for a couple of seconds before he drops back into the water, only his head stays above, and swims around to the other side of the boat.

 

“A little.” He says, pulling himself up and folding his arms on the side of the boat before resting his head on them.

 

“Of what?” Jiyong asks, “I just want to talk to you.”

 

“Aren’t I close enough now?” Youngbae asks, and Jiyong swears that Youngbae’s eyes glow with amusement.

 

Jiyong crosses his arms over his chest. “No, not near enough!” Jiyong says, forcing a haughty look onto his face as Youngbae just grins up at him, silently refusing to move. “As Prince of this land, I demand that you come up out of the water immediately.” Youngbae’s smile falters for only a second at the demanding and authoritative tone that Jiyong’s voice picks up. The smile turns more daring, and Youngbae raises an eyebrow and tilts his head to the side.

 

“Are you sure?” He asks, and his voice is a whisper, so delicate and promising a challenge, that Jiyong can’t help but to move closer.

 

“Yes.” He says simply, and Youngbae nods moving back from the boat and beckoning for Jiyong to pay attention. Jiyong takes a deep breath and holds it, wondering what Youngbae plans to do.

 

“This is why I’m afraid to get out of the water.” He says, before beckoning Jiyong even closer.

 

Jiyong moves to the edge of the boat and grasps the side. Youngbae had moved so that he had one arm holding himself up against the side of the boat, while the other hand was moving lazily in the water. He looks at Youngbae’s face expectantly, only to have his gaze redirected down to the water. Jiyong is confused for a moment, but then he sees something shimmering beneath the surface. He grabs his lamp and holds it over the edge, the rising moon not giving off enough light for him to see properly. He looks down again and is shocked to see that what he thought had just been something shimmering, was in fact scales. He looks quickly up to Youngbae’s face and then follows Youngbae’s body down to where it met the water; at that junction, with the lamp held over it, Jiyong could see Youngbae’s skin go from just the plain golden tan to being flecked with shimmering green and orange scales. Then it turned from just being flecked with scales into just being scales instead of legs; Jiyong realizes that Youngbae has a fin. 

 

He looks up at Youngbae, trying to register what he just saw. Youngbae has his head cocked to the side, and is just watching Jiyong, as if trying to gauge Jiyong’s reaction.

 

“I’m surprised.” Jiyong says, and then immediately feels stupid for saying it. No one actually says that, and especially not in the very monotone way that he just had. He stops feeling stupid when he sees a small and uncertain smile cross Youngbae’s face.

 

“I’m sorry.” He says, and Jiyong wants to know what Youngbae is sorry for.

 

Before he can ask the question however, Youngbae reaches forward with his free hand and touches the side of Jiyong’s face. His fingers are warm but a little wet, and Jiyong is too shocked by the sudden contact to react. Youngbae smiles a little nervously and quickly leans forward, placing a kiss to Jiyong’s cheek before letting go and backing away.

 

“Wait!” Jiyong says, reaching forward. Youngbae stops and tilts his head to the side. “Tomorrow afternoon. Come here, I want to see you...” He’s not sure how to finish the sentence, but he doesn’t need to. Youngbae nods once before quickly diving below the surface, completely gone from view.

 

Jiyong doesn’t wonder at Youngbae’s sudden decision to leave for long; seconds later he hears  a shout from the direction of the dock. “Sire! Sire you should come back!” Seungri’s voice travels out over the cove making Jiyong roll his eyes. He situates himself back in the boat and slowly starts to steer himself to shore.

  
_ Youngbae is a mermaid. _ He doubted he would sleep that night.


	5. Chapter 5

“What should I do?” Youngbae asks, floating back and forth just outside Daesung’s door. He hesitated going in because he couldn’t see any sign of Daesung, and as it was already very late he assumed that Daesung was either asleep or had actually gone out to enjoy the beginning of the festival.

 

“Stop muttering to yourself and come inside.” Daesung says, appearing behind him and causing him to whip around in surprise. Daesung smiles brightly and moves forward, opening the door and gesturing for Youngbae to follow him.

 

Once Youngbae’s heart rate goes back to normal he follows after Daesung, stopping in the center of the room. He takes a deep breath in and waits in the comfortable silence as Daesung lights the small area. 

 

“Did you go to the festival?” He asks, wanting to be polite even though he was dying to ask Daesung what he should do.

 

Daesung smiles and moves closer, pushing a small bowl of food at Youngbae. “I did. It was a lot more entertaining than I had imagined.” Youngbae relaxes slightly at Daesung’s tone, sincerely glad that his sometimes reclusive friend had had a good time.

 

“I’m glad. Did Seunghyun show you his shell animals? He was terribly pleased with himself for making them.” Youngbae says, more than willing to continue the conversation as it kept him calm.

 

Daesung smiles again, a light blush crossing his features. “Yes, he did.” He says softly, and Youngbae wants to laugh because Daesung’s reaction can only mean that Seunghyun was being overbearing or embarrassing.

 

“I wish I had been able to go around with you. Did you spend the whole time with Seunghyun?” Daesung nods and turns away, making Youngbae note that he needs to talk to Seunghyun about the way he acts around Daesung.

 

“But you didn’t show up here in the middle of the night to hear about my excursion into society.” Daesung says, his voice becoming stronger. Youngbae winces and looks away.

 

“I wish it was, I truly wish I had been there with you.”

 

“Was it that bad?” Daesung asks, turning back to Youngbae, his eyes wide; he had assumed that if it were bad, Youngbae would have come straight to the festival.

 

“No! No, it wasn’t bad!” Youngbae says, putting his hands up, “No, I just, I feel like a bad friend for not having been there when you went out like that.” Daesung shakes his head. 

 

“Don’t, really.” Daesung says, a smile crossing his face. “You were brave enough to surface again, so I figured that I could be brave enough to simply go to a festival with people that I knew.” Daesung waves his hand in front of him, “But I want to hear what happened. Why are you so distressed?” Youngbae takes a deep breath and then shrugs.

 

“I don’t...know?” Daesung cocks his head to the side, “It went perfectly. He was there; kind of like he was waiting for me...and we talked.” Daesung’s eyes widen in surprise and Youngbae nods vigorously, “Yes! I was hesitant at first, but I could speak, and I could understand him...” He looks down and Daesung moves closer.

 

“You could breathe?” Youngbae nods, “and you could speak...did you try getting fully out of the water?” Youngbae shakes his head.

 

“I was afraid...it just didn’t seem...it felt too quick.” Youngbae looks down for a second, wrestling with what to say. “I showed him my...my fin...underwater.” He looks back up once he finishes speaking, his hands fidgeting in front of him.

 

Daesung is shocked speechless for a couple of moments, before he shakes his head and smiles reassuringly at his friend. “Hmm, how did he react?” He asks, forcing his voice to sound as calm as possible.

 

“He didn’t really seem surprised...well, he said that he was...but he didn’t sound it.” Youngbae frowns, puzzled, “It was kind of odd. But he wants to see me again.”

 

Daesung nods, his expression serious. “I’m curious about his reaction...Did you get along?” It was kind of a silly question, Daesung knew, considering the fact that Youngbae had felt comfortable enough to reveal that he was a merman, but he wanted to know if Youngbae could voice his feelings on the matter.

 

“Yes...I mean we didn’t talk for long, or really about all that much, but...it was comfortable. Once we started talking, it was like I had known him my whole life. It was more a question of ‘how’ do I show him I’m a merman, rather than ‘when’ or ‘should I’.” He takes a deep breath, his face burning with embarrassment at saying it all out loud. Daesung smiles and relaxes.

 

“What’s he like?”

 

“Ahh,” Youngbae pauses, trying to get his thoughts together. “He’s kind of frail-looking at first, but he has this way about him that practically screams that you shouldn’t be fooled by your first impression. He can be gentle and kind, but he’s also rather...haughty?” Youngbae pauses for a moment, and Daesung tries to quell the amused smile trying to force its way onto his face. “He told me that he’s a prince. I think that the other man that was with him when I first saw him was a servant of some kind.” Youngbae looks mildly uncertain, and Daesung tilts his head to the side in question.

 

“Is that a bad thing?”

 

“I don’t know, I just...I’m not a royal...what if he doesn’t...” Youngbae can’t seem to find the right words to finish his thought so he just shakes his head and looks away.

 

“Ahh, you know...I don’t think it matters. I mean, you were in the ocean, he probably didn’t assume you were royalty.” Youngbae nods and then shakes his head to clear his thoughts.

 

“Yeah...it was so...perfect though.” Daesung laughs lightly as Youngbae’s face takes on a dreamy look. “But it was!” Daesung shakes his head, still laughing, and Youngbae scowls.

 

“I’m sorry, it’s just rather amusing. You never so much as look at anyone down here, and then you go up to the surface once and become obsessed with someone you could barely see.” Youngbae shoves him lightly, making him laugh again. Youngbae allows himself to smile slightly before suddenly stopping, a look of panic crossing his face.

 

“He wants me to go back. Tomorrow, in the afternoon.” Daesung tilts his head to the side and urges Youngbae to continue. “I don’t know. It will be so much easier to see me...” 

 

“And? Do you want to continue talking to him? Maybe he wants to see you? You can see more of him than he can see of you.” Daesung says, shrugging. “And maybe you can try pulling yourself out of the water...see what happens...” Youngbae nods, his face pensieve.

 

“Yeah...yeah maybe I could...” Daesung laughs lightly and pats Youngbae on the back.

 

“Yes, you can. Now go, I need to sleep! All of this socializing is too much for me!” Youngbae laughs and hurries out of the house at Daesung’s urging.

 

“Goodnight!” He shouts, causing Daesung to just shake his head and shut the door.

 

Youngbae felt great; ecstatic, a little reckless, exhilarated, and happy. He felt so happy. He couldn’t wait for the next day, his previous nervousness all but gone.

~   ~

 

Jiyong is stood in front of his father and mother, silently cursing Seungri and his ridiculous mind. The boy had alerted basically the entire castle to his nightly disappearances; raising a stink when there was absolutely no reason for him to cause so much unrest. Seungri is standing off to the side, wringing his hands and looking between Jiyong’s blank face and the vaguely serious set of the King’s.

 

Jiyong had spent the last ten minutes explaining that all he wanted was some time practicing his rowing by himself. He had mentioned that having the servants with him at all times made it hard for him to do anything for himself, and he had thrown in something about hearing other servants muttering about him not being a manly enough Prince. His parents had sat quietly throughout the whole explanation, and Jiyong was praying that they weren’t as upset as Seungri had made them out to be.

 

“Well,” the King says, shifting in his seat and peaking a quick look at his wife before continuing. “I don’t see anything wrong with you going out rowing alone.” The Queen’s eyebrows raise slightly, and the king clears his throat, “Of course it would be best if you went out during the day; that cove has quite a few hidden rocks that your boat can get snagged on.” Jiyong bows slightly.

 

“Of course. That’s highly practical.” He says, letting his voice fall into a formal drawl; disinterested but obedient sounding.

 

His father smiles and nods, “Perfect! Now, off to bed!” Jiyong smiles and moves forward to give his mother a kiss goodnight, before turning and leaving their room.

 

Seungri hurriedly follows after him, bowing quickly to the King and Queen before rushing out the door to catch up. Jiyong ignores his muttered fussing as he continues down the hall and to his room.

 

“Goodnight, Seungri.” He says, trying to make it evident that he would prefer to be alone...again.

 

“Yes, sire. It’s quite a lovely night.” Jiyong rolls his eyes and continues into his room, “Don’t be mad, sire, I needed to let them know what you were doing! They were worried because you’ve been so tired and withdrawn this week.” Jiyong raises an eyebrow but doesn’t turn around, deciding to continue looking into his wardrobe instead. “And I couldn’t just let them worry!”

 

“How did you know where I was going?” Jiyong asks, turning to look at his reflection in the mirror; the angle made it possible for him to see Seungri nervously rearranging the place setting on the table under the window.

 

“Well, you weren’t exactly hiding it.” Jiyong raises an eyebrow and turns to look at Seungri, his arms crossed over his chest. “We-well, I mean, I live down in the group of houses by the gate...So I can see you leave while I’m getting ready for bed.”

 

Jiyong wants badly to say something smart and biting about Seungri’s lack of better things to do, but stops himself when he sees how fidgety and uncomfortable Seungri is acting. “What’s the matter?” Jiyong asks, the words coming out a little harsher than intended. Seungri flinches almost imperceptibly, but he recovers quickly, used to Jiyong’s sometimes biting tone.

 

“You’ve been odd, muttering in your sleep when I come in with your breakfast in the mornings...if you’re even here.” Jiyong looks down at the floor and then sighs.

 

“What have I been muttering?” Jiyong asks, trying not to sound too interested.

 

“Just nonsense about the cove and eyes and mystery men.” Seungri gains some of his boldness back and looks straight into Jiyong’s eyes. “I didn’t realize you liked men. It makes your lack of interest in the maids make more sense.”

 

Jiyong fights to control the blush that automatically springs to his cheeks. “What are you talking about? I don’t pay attention to the maids because they flirt with anything that moves.” Jiyong says, trying to cover his sudden embarrassment; he hadn’t been aware that he was so talkative in his sleep. Seungri grins, moving closer.

 

“You didn’t deny it though. Who is he?” Seungri looked excited, like this was the most interesting thing that had ever happened in his life.

 

“I, no one. There is no one.” Jiyong says, floundering a little before catching himself and forcing authority into his voice. “You shouldn’t be addressing me so informally.” Seungri barely contains his eye roll at Jiyong’s command.

 

“Yes, and you shouldn’t be rendezvousing with mysterious men in the middle of a cove at night.” Jiyong’s lip twitches involuntarily and he wonders briefly if he could get away with hitting Seungri.

 

“I don’t rendezvous with anyone.”

 

“You did tonight. I saw you talking to him when I came down.” Jiyong’s lip twitches again, and he hopes that it doesn’t become a normal thing because he’s certain it’s unattractive.

 

“Did you?”

 

“Yes, and he left rather quickly when I showed up. What’s he afraid of?”

 

“Probably you. So stop being so nosy.” Seungri smiles brightly, seeming to be so much more interested than previously. Jiyong scowls slightly and wishes he hadn’t said that.

 

“So there  _ was _ someone!” Seungri claps excitedly and Jiyong’s scowl deepens. “I couldn’t be sure from where I was, but it looked like you were talking to somebody.” Jiyong sighs, he couldn’t believe that he had forgotten that there was almost no way that Seungri would have been able to actually see Youngbae in the water as it had been rather dark when he arrived.

 

“Yes, yes, I was.” Jiyong says, trying to sound nonchalant. “He left when you arrived.”

 

“You were kind of dazed when you came back in. Did he swim away? Where did he go? Where is he from?” Jiyong’s lip twitches again, and he moves over to the small couch at the end of his bed and sits down.

 

“He swam away. I was not  _ dazed _ . I don’t even know why you would think that.” Seungri had moved closer and he raises an eyebrow at Jiyong’s flippant answer.

 

“Maybe because you were staring off into space and had your hand up to your cheek the entire walk back to the castle.” Jiyong scowls again and Seungri fights the urge to smile.

 

“Whatever. Leave me so that I can sleep. I will need my energy as I intend to spend most of the day out.” He pauses and sees Seungri nod, looking as though he was trying to mentally prepare for the next day. “Alone. I expect my breakfast early as usual. Please make sure to be quiet.”

 

Seungri smiles, almost mischievously, and bows with a murmured ‘yes sire’. Once Seungri leaves, Jiyong lets out a deep sigh and ruffles his hair.

  
“Alright, now to sleep...” He mutters to himself before getting up and getting ready.


	6. Chapter 6

The seahorse races were in full swing down at the festival grounds as Youngbae bids Seunghyun and his brother goodbye.

 

“But you  _ love _ the seahorse races!” Youngbae’s brother says. 

 

Youngbae raises an eyebrow, “No I don’t. You do. Why on earth would I enjoy watching little animals that can barely swim properly try to race?”

 

His brother makes a face and then tries again, “What do you even have to do that could be more important than spending the afternoon with me?” Youngbae forces himself not to feel guilty; he spends most everyday with his brother, one afternoon wouldn’t hurt him.

 

“Oh come on, we’ll have fun without him! And besides, I think Daesung is going to come out this afternoon. We can entertain him.” Seunghyun says, putting his hand on Youngbae’s brother’s shoulder.

 

“Yeah, you guys can keep Daesung company. It’s not a big deal  _ Hyunbae, _ we spend most every afternoon together anyway. I’ll see you later.” He spins himself around and heads off, throwing a quick wave at them over his shoulder, before making his way to the cove.

 

He hears Seunghyun shout something about being careful at his back as he leaves, and he chuckles to himself; pushing himself to move faster as he is anxious to see Jiyong again. He doesn’t pause until he makes it all the way to the cove. He stops just on the outside and takes a deep breath, feeling his insides getting a little jittery. He hadn’t really considered what this next meeting would entail, being so excited for it to just occur. What if Jiyong wanted him to get out of the water? What if there were other people there?

 

He shakes his head and takes another deep breath, forcing himself to keep going and stop thinking distressing thoughts. He decides to swim around close to the bottom until he sees Jiyong’s boat, and so heads off in the direction of the dock, hoping to find him quickly. He pauses frequently to look up above him, scanning for any signs of the boat. When he makes it to the dock, he waits for a couple of seconds, feeling severely disappointed that Jiyong wasn’t already there. He weaves around the thick pieces of wood holding the dock up, trying to work off the thought that maybe Jiyong wasn’t coming. He hears something on the dock, and stops, keeping his ears tuned to the sound. It was a fairly steady rhythm, and he decides that it must be Jiyong, so he slowly makes his way to the surface.

 

He comes up right in front of the boat and when his eyesight clears, he searches the docks for any sign of Jiyong. He spots him pulling two long pieces of wood out from under the dock on the beach, and once Youngbae is certain that Jiyong is alone, he moves so that he is in front of the dock. He pulls himself up and rests his head on his arms, which he had laid on the dock, and watches as Jiyong works.

 

Jiyong had his back to Youngbae, and so Youngbae took the chance to admire the way that Jiyong moved. Legs were fascinating, and Youngbae found the way that Jiyong walked to be graceful and rhythmic. He wondered at what it must be like to walk; to need to propel yourself using the ground instead of the water. He was contemplating why Jiyong had fabric covering his legs when Jiyong turned around and started toward him, carrying the pieces of wood.

 

“What are those?” He asks, forgetting that Jiyong was unaware of his presence. Jiyong stops for a moment, his eyes searching for the source of the voice before they land on Youngbae’s curious face looking up at him from the dock. Jiyong smiles brightly and walks closer, setting them down in front of Youngbae and squatting behind them.

 

“Oars. I use them in the boat.” He cocks his head to the side, seemingly amused by Youngbae’s question.

 

“Oars.” Youngbae repeats, before reaching a hand out to touch one. “Why don’t you just swim?” He asks, slowly bringing his gaze up to meet Jiyong’s.

 

“Well, because I would get my clothes wet, and I would get tired really quickly.” Jiyong says, moving so that he’s sitting next to Youngbae, his legs dangling over the edge of the dock.

 

Youngbae tilts his head to the side, his braids tumbling off of his back making the shells clack against each other. “Can you swim?”

 

“Yes, but not as good as you. And since I can’t breathe underwater, it takes a lot of energy.” Youngbae nods, taking in Jiyong’s profile as the man turns his head away to look out over the cove.

 

Youngbae closes his eyes for a moment, enjoying the companionable silence. The sun was warm against his skin and it was a new sensation that he found himself quite fond of. He twitches his fin up and out of the water for a moment, just lazily moving it around. He isn’t aware that he’s doing it until he hears a small intake of breath from Jiyong.

 

“What is it?” Youngbae asks, opening his eyes and lifting up his head to look at Jiyong.

 

“You...your fin.” He says, his voice coming out in a hoarse whisper. Youngbae turns his head, trying to see if there was something wrong with it.

 

“Is something the matter with it?” He asks, frowning and getting ready to move back into the water, suddenly self-conscious.

 

“No!” Jiyong half-shouts, bringing a hand up to his mouth afterward and turning red. “No, nothing is wrong with it. It just looks different in the sunlight...and out of the water.” Youngbae looks over at him and blinks slowly, trying to process if that was really a good thing.

 

He decides that it must have been when Jiyong reaches forward and touches Youngbae’s back, dragging his hand down until it met the water and Jiyong couldn’t lean any further without falling in. The skin on Youngbae’s back tingles where Jiyong’s warm and soft hand had touched him, and he fights back a shiver.

 

“Your back feels like normal skin...” Jiyong says, awe etched into his face and words. Youngbae hopes that his skin is similar to Jiyong’s, because he really likes the way that Jiyong’s skin feels.

 

Youngbae watches Jiyong’s eyes travel down his back and over his fin in the water. He can practically feel Jiyong’s gaze as it travels over his skin. He fights a shudder and returns his gaze to the dock, knowing that his face was probably turning a lovely shade of red.

 

"How do you...have you always had a fin?" Jiyong asks, his voice a little louder than before as if he was trying to make himself sound confident. Youngbae cocks his head to the side and gives Jiyong a puzzled frown.

 

“Have you always had legs?” Youngbae asks, and Jiyong can’t decide if he wants to hit Youngbae for being smart with him or just die from embarrassment.

 

“Of course. Sorry...I’m just still getting used to.. Is your whole body normally covered in scales?” Jiyong was having trouble coming up with good questions. He had wanted so desperately to see Youngbae during the day, but he hadn’t really thought of what they could talk about, or do.

 

Youngbae tilts his head to the side, trying to decide how best to answer. “I can show you.” He says, slowly lowering his top half back into the water. Jiyong watches, fascinated, as Youngbae slowly dips beneath the surface.

 

Right before his eyes he watches as the skin on Youngbae’s smooth and tanned back becomes distorted by the water and then small groups of scales pop up; more prevalent near his hips, where the fin starts. Youngbae moves back from the dock, his head still above the water, and looks at Jiyong for a second before dipping below the surface and swimming slowly around in a small circle.

 

Jiyong thanks the heavens that the water was so clear. He watches, completely enraptured, as Youngbae moves almost fluidly through the water. The orange and green scales sparkle in the sunlight and Jiyong can’t help but to marvel at the fact that the ones on Youngbae’s torso seem to disappear when he’s out of the water. He watches as Youngbae stops swimming in circles and starts moving closer; the stories about mermaids that the sailors in town always told starting to make their way into his consciousness.

 

Youngbae decides to come back up and see Jiyong’s reaction. He couldn’t really explain it, but he wanted so badly for Jiyong to find him interesting and special. He moves in front of Jiyong and slowly starts to surface, as he comes up he reaches out to grab onto the edge of the dock directly next to Jiyong.

 

Jiyong watches as Youngbae’s head appears directly in front of him. The image takes his breath away. As beautiful and fascinating as Jiyong found Youngbae while he was swimming below the surface, the way he looked as he broke the surface was even more arresting. Youngbae’s eyes were closed, as if he were adjusting to the difference between water and air, and he had used one strong arm to grip the dock directly next to Jiyong’s leg. As Youngbae wiped the water from his face with his free hand, Jiyong wondered if the stories about Mermaids also applied to the men; were they just as tricky? Were they also sent to trick men to their deaths in the ocean? He couldn’t imagine it. Though he hadn’t known Youngbae for long, he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Youngbae would never hurt anyone intentionally; and most especially not just for the fun of it.

 

“Are you OK?” Youngbae asks, pulling himself closer to the dock, and so closer to Jiyong’s legs.

 

“Ahh, yes. Fine.” Jiyong says, trying to gather his thoughts as Youngbae moves forward. “You’re beautiful.” He says on a breath, almost without thinking. 

 

Youngbae looks up at Jiyong for a moment, slightly surprised by the compliment. He fights the blush he can feel crawling up his torso, and decides to focus on something less embarrassing. His eyes land on Jiyong’s leg, covered in a dark blue fabric. He reaches forward with his free hand and grabs it where it opens at Jiyong’s ankle.

 

Jiyong leans forward to see what Youngbae is doing just as Youngbae looks up. “Why do you wear this?” he asks, tugging on it for emphasis.

 

Jiyong tilts his head to the side and frowns slightly. “Because it would be indecent not to. Don’t you wear clothes?” He asks, but immediately regrets it as he realizes that he is assuming that when Youngbae isn’t around him, he wears a shirt and some type of modified trousers. 

 

Youngbae just shakes his head and tugs again. “But don’t they get in the way?” he asks, truly curious as to their function.

 

“Only when I’m too tired to change.” Jiyong says, waving his hand in front of him like it’s unimportant. “What would they get in the way of, anyway?”

 

Youngbae looks down at the cloth trapped between his fingertips. “I don’t know...moving?” He suggests.

 

Jiyong laughs. “Only if they don’t fit! They get in the way when I’m in the water because they get heavy and they don’t move with my body.” Youngbae nods, hesitates for a moment, and then lets go of the fabric.

 

“I think I can get out of the water...But I’m afraid.” He says, his voice steady but low. Jiyong nods, staying quiet for a moment and fighting the urge to reach out and touch Youngbae’s hair.

 

“Would you be able to move around? But you don’t have legs!” Jiyong says, leaning back looking at Youngbae with confusion.

 

“Well, I can breathe and speak above water...and my skin changes...” Jiyong mentally hits himself in the forehead for being so stupid. “Daesung thinks that  I can get out of the water, that maybe I’ll even have legs. But he’s not sure because no one is really allowed out of the water and everything that says that we can is all stupid childish myths and stories.” Youngbae looks down at the water while he speaks, moving his hand around the surface. Jiyong is quiet for a moment, and Youngbae is worried that he has said too much. 

 

“Who’s Daesung?” Jiyong asks, in a tone that Youngbae isn’t entirely familiar with. He looks up at Jiyong and shrugs.

 

“He’s a friend of mine.” Jiyong’s face, which had been set in a rather forced-looking smile, relaxes at those words, but stays slightly guarded. “He was gifted with extreme wisdom, so much so that the court advisors proclaimed it. Everyone goes to see him if they are having problems.” Jiyong nods, noting that it was probably because of this ‘Daesung’ that Youngbae had come back to see him at all.

 

“Ah.” Jiyong says, nodding. “So you have stories about mermaids becoming human?”

 

Youngbae shakes his head. “Sort of.” He sighs and moves so that his back is against the dock and he lifts his other arm up so that he’s being held up by his elbows. “There are some who have moved onto dry land to be with humans...but they are never actually human. They can still swim in the water, their legs being exchanged for a fin once in the water.” Youngbae swishes his fin under the surface, watching it move. “There are also some who come up and fall in love and then try to bring their lover underwater with them. And still more where the human tricks them into coming out of the water so that they can put them on display, or use them in some other way.” He pauses and Jiyong suddenly feels awful for immediately assuming that all of the stories that the fishermen told were the only way that it could work.

 

“We have stories about mermaids...I’ve never heard any about mermen before.” Jiyong pauses for a short moment. “They are pretty awful though.” Youngbae nods, and Jiyong wishes that he could see the man’s face; not because he wants to see a reaction, but just because he likes to look at it.

 

“I’m afraid that my fin won’t change.” Youngbae says in a whisper. Jiyong bites his lip and looks out over the cove.

 

“We can go over to the beach over there.” Jiyong says suddenly, turning and pointing off to the side where there was a small beach-like area, shielded from view by a cluster of trees. Youngbae hesitates for a short moment before nodding. “Great...” He says, before standing up to make his way off of the dock and around onto the beach.

 

“It would be faster if you swam...” Youngbae says as he slips his arms off of the dock and dips deeper into the water. Jiyong hesitates for a moment, biting his lip and squinting down at the water. Youngbae decides that Jiyong’s hesitation face is one of his favorites.

 

“Oh alright.” He says, causing Youngbae to smile. “Just give me a second to get ready.” Youngbae arches an eyebrow at him in confusion before Jiyong starts to remove his shirt and Youngbae understands.

 

He watches, enthralled, as Jiyong slowly takes off his shirt and folds it carefully before placing it on the dock beside him. Then he shimmies out of his pants and folds them as well, setting them carefully on top of his shirt. Jiyong’s skin was paler than Youngbae’s, and his body was generally slimmer. But, just as Youngbae had imagined from their previous meeting, there was more to him than he at first looked. Slim, yes, but weak? No, Youngbae would never say that Jiyong looked weak. His slim body was toned and held a strength that wasn’t as overtly obvious as Youngbae’s, but it was still there. 

 

Jiyong moves over to the edge of the dock and bends down, getting ready to drop into the water. “Wait,” Youngbae says, his eyebrows furrowed, “You forgot some of your clothes.” Jiyong tilts his head to the side before looking down at himself; he was still wearing his underwear.

 

“Well, yes, and they’re going to stay on. Now move so I can get in.” Youngbae is still confused but he moves out of the way as Jiyong lowers himself into the water. “It’s cold! You said last night it was warm!” Jiyong says on a whine as he splashes Youngbae lightly.

 

Youngbae laughs and shakes his head to get rid of the water. “You just aren’t used to it. Come on.” Jiyong grumbles lightly but follows after Youngbae.

 

The small beach was bathed in sunlight, and as the water became shallower, Jiyong was able to walk out and up onto the dry sand. He turns to watch Youngbae, who was hesitating just off shore. 

 

“Come on!” Jiyong yells, trying not to think about the fact that he’s only wearing his underwear...his  _ wet _ underwear. He shakes his head and walks slowly back into the water when it becomes clear that Youngbae’s going to need a little bit of prodding to get going.

 

“What if it doesn’t work?” Youngbae mutters quietly, making his way slowly forward until his arms can hold his head up above the water while touching the ground.

 

“Why don’t you try just...just coming up?” Jiyong asks, and Youngbae notices that he is standing next to him; the water coming up to about his knees. 

 

Youngbae nods mutely and starts making his way slowly toward shore. When he is almost completely above water, with Jiyong standing in front of him, ogling his orange, green and shimmering fin (and, secretly, Youngbae’s back and arms), he stops and turns so that he can sit on the ground. He’s still partially in the water, maybe about an inch or so, with the small waves lapping up around him. He takes a minute to look down at his fin, realizing how terribly inconvenient it is; at least Jiyong can both swim and walk.

 

Jiyong stays standing in front of him, his hands on his hips and his head cocked to the side. “You probably have to be completely out of the water.” He says, his eyes lingering on the slowly disappearing scales on Youngbae’s stomach.

 

Youngbae follows Jiyong’s gaze down to his stomach and watches with fascination as the few lingering scales fade away. He chews lightly on his bottom lip, trying to decide what to do; should he drag himself all the way to shore? or would his fin slowly change, from the top down like his scales?

 

“Here,” Jiyong says, moving forward when he notices Youngbae hesitate. “Why don’t I help you get up onto the sand and then we will see what happens?” He doesn’t wait for Youngbae to agree before walking around behind him and leaning forward. “I’ll help pull you up...OK?” Jiyong asks, his face close enough to Youngbae’s ear that the merman shivers at the feeling of his breath upon his cheek.

 

“OK.” Youngbae says quietly, wishing there were an easier way to do this, or at least that Jiyong weren’t witnessing his difficulties.

 

With a determined smile, Jiyong grips Youngbae by the armpits and lifts him just high enough that he can effectively drag him out of the few inches of water and up onto the dry sand. He settles Youngbae down and moves around to sit next to him, both of them facing the ocean.

 

“Can you feel it change?” Jiyong asks, leaning back on his hands and squinting out over the water. “Like when your scales change into skin?”

 

Youngbae is quiet for a moment. “Well, no. I don’t really feel those. It’s like...it’s like a light itch.” He says, and Jiyong turns to look at him. “Like a small feeling that doesn’t really bother me.”

 

“How about your fin...How does it feel?” Jiyong asks, trying not to look down. He wanted more than anything for Youngbae to be able to walk around on land. He wasn’t entirely certain why, aside from the fact that the way that Youngbae spoke made him feel dizzy and whenever Youngbae looked at him he felt happier than he had any real right to.

 

Youngbae looks down at his fin, noting how in the places that it was starting to dry off he could see skin. “A light tingling.” He says while reaching forward to rub at the drying patches. “But mostly it feels warm, like too much sunshine.”

 

Jiyong smiles, and Youngbae is certain that that smile could put the sun to shame. “You can never have too much sunshine.” He says, before turning to look back out over the water. “How’s it looking?” He asks.

 

Youngbae looks down at what used to be his fin but was now a pair of still-scaly legs. His eyes widen in shock and he leans forward to touch them. He’s surprised by how he didn’t feel them changing; a warm feeling being the only thing that indicated that something was going on. He flicks his eyes over to Jiyong, and realizes that part of the reason he didn’t feel anything was probably because he was distracted by Jiyong. 

 

Jiyong was trying hard not to sneak a peek at Youngbae’s lower body parts. He desperately wanted to know if Youngbae’s fin would turn into a pair of well-toned legs (if his upper-body were anything to go by, then they very well should be), but he didn’t want to be disappointed or make Youngbae feel uncomfortable. He feels a hand on his shoulder, and turns his head to see Youngbae smiling at him and trying to stand up.

 

“Oh! I’ll help you!” Jiyong says, his eyes going wide as he realizes that Youngbae is now in possession of a pair of well-toned legs. He stands up and moves around in front of Youngbae, offering his hands.

 

Youngbae smiles appreciatively and grabs Jiyong’s hands, and with his help, Youngbae is able to stand up. He’s a little shaky on his new legs, which still had scales in some places, and so Jiyong moves closer, making sure to hold him steady as they slowly start to walk. The sheer excitement of it all causes Youngbae to falter far more often than his lack of ability. Remembering what it looked like when Jiyong was walking, he focuses on copying the movements he had been so fascinated by.

 

Jiyong is trying his hardest to keep looking forward. He should have realized that Youngbae would be completely lacking in all forms of clothing. He feels himself turning a deep shade of red as Youngbae stumbles slightly into him and he can’t help but to look down. Yeah, Youngbae would need some clothing.

 

“This isn’t so bad.” Youngbae says, and Jiyong can practically hear the smile in his voice.

 

“No, you’re doing pretty well for someone who’s never walked before.” He responds, loosening his grip on Youngbae’s arm just enough that he can slide his hand down to Youngbae’s.

 

Youngbae smiles brightly and  looks around them, lacing his fingers with Jiyong’s before tugging him toward a small copse of trees. “What are these?” he asks, running his hand over the bark, marvelling at the texture.

 

“Palm trees.” Jiyong says, a laugh threatening to spill out as he watches Youngbae stare up at the tree with wide-eyes and an innocent expression.

 

“Palm? Hmm.” He mutters, running his hand along the trunk again before shifting his focus to the rest of the area.

 

There wasn’t much to see. The small copse of palm trees ran into the cliff that closed in the small cove. To their left was a ridge of rocks that separated the beach they were on from the dock; and to their right was the the sheer wall of the cliff. Youngbae’s smile never faltered though. He turns back to Jiyong and notices that he has to look up just a little to see into his eyes.

 

“You’re higher than me.” He says, moving closer so that he can see just how much taller Jiyong was.

 

“Taller.” Jiyong corrects before allowing a small smirk to play across his mouth. “Yes, yes I am.”

 

“I like your hair.” Youngbae says, tilting his head to the side before reaching up to touch it. “It’s soft.” He says, a small smile on his lips as he focuses his whole attention on Jiyong’s hair.

 

Jiyong sucks in a breath and fights to keep his blush down and his calm exterior up. “I was thinking of cutting it. I’m not sure I like it anymore.” He says, allowing his eyes to travel over Youngbae’s face and neck before resting on the man’s hair.

 

“Why would you do that?” Youngbae asks, running his fingers through Jiyong’s hair, confusion trying to edge out the smile.

 

“I dunno,” Jiyong says, shrugging his shoulders and reaching out a hand to touch Youngbae’s hair. “I don’t like to stay the same; and recently I’ve been influenced by the ocean...” He runs his hand over the top of Youngbae’s head, feeling the ridges caused by the tight rows of braids. He flicks his gaze downward and sees Youngbae bite his lip.

 

“Ahh, well...I like it the way that it is.” Youngbae says, feeling a little lame for not having anything more eloquent to say.

 

“I shall take that into account.” Jiyong says, a warm smile curving across his lips; he somehow knew that Youngbae would like his hair no matter what he did with it.

 

Youngbae shakes his head, causing the shells to clatter against each other and Jiyong to smile. “You’re going to change it anyway.” He says, and Jiyong’s smile widens. “But that’s alright, because I’m sure whatever you will do will suit you.” Jiyong watches in slight amusement as Youngbae’s cheeks become tinged with pink.

 

“Thank you.” Jiyong says, running his hand over Youngbae’s braids once more before backing up. “Now let’s go put some clothes on you. We can’t have you running around all indecently when one of my servants could show up at any moment and think the worst of me.” He tugs at Youngbae’s hand, and they start off toward the ridge of rocks.

 

“Why would they think the worst of you?” Youngbae asks, struggling to keep up.

 

“Well, we are both rather less than clothed, so they would think something was going on.” He turns to check Youngbae’s understanding, and sees that the man is still rather innocently confused. “Are you allowed alone with a female who you aren’t dating?”

 

Youngbae shakes his head. “Not really, no. Not in a..Oh.” His cheeks go red again and Jiyong smiles, tugging at his hand again.

 

“Mmm. Come on, let’s just get over these rocks, I have extra clothes.” Youngbae nods mutely, trying to will away the embarrassment that he was feeling.

 

They make it across the rocks and Jiyong leads the way to the boat, where he pulls out a bag and throws a pair of pants in Youngbae’s direction.

 

“I hope that they fit.” Jiyong says. “You’re a little more muscular than me.” Youngbae shrugs and pulls them on. He notices the change in Jiyong’s countenance immediately; the man finally actually looks at him directly.

 

Jiyong pulls on his clothes from earlier and motions for Youngbae to come and sit next to him on the dock. They spend a while just talking and laughing. The sun is starting to go down before either of them realizes how long they’ve been there. Youngbae looks around suddenly and curses.

 

“What? What’s the matter?” Jiyong asks, sitting up straighter and leaning forward with one of his hands on Youngbae’s thigh.

 

“Nothing, I just, I should probably go back. My brother will probably be looking for me and who knows what types of horrible things Seunghyun has accidentally said to Daesung.” Jiyong laughs lightly and pats Youngbae’s thigh.

 

“No, it’s no problem! I’d almost forgotten that you didn’t live up here...” Jiyong’s smile becomes fixed as he realizes that all of his moments with Youngbae would probably end like this...if there were more.

 

“I’m sorry I’m such trouble...” Youngbae says, shrugging his shoulders and looking down at his hands.

 

“No! You’re no trouble at all! I’m the one who can’t return the favor and come down to visit you in the ocean.” Youngbae nods, a smile starting across his face.

 

“No, but I enjoy coming up here to be with you.” He says before standing up. He waits for Jiyong to get up as well before he moves up onto the dock and over to the edge. He sits down and shimmies off the pants before folding them nicely and slowly slipping into the water.

 

Jiyong smiles at him and sits down on the edge. “When can you next come to visit?” he asks, swatting at Youngbae’s head as the man pretends to splash him.

 

“Ahh...” He says, leaning back in the water, allowing Jiyong to see that he already had his fin back. “I have to clean up after the festival tomorrow...The day after?” He asks, suddenly worried by the possibility that Jiyong won’t want to wait that long.

 

“Alright, that’s good. I think I have some type of lesson tomorrow or something anyway.” He smiles brightly at Youngbae. “I will be down here all day the day after waiting for you and practicing my rowing.”

 

Youngbae smiles and nods. “Alright, see you then!” He says, backing away slowly before dipping completely below the surface and disappearing from Jiyong’s sight.

 

Jiyong leans back with a deep sigh. He’s not certain how he will handle waiting an entire day to see Youngbae again, but he doesn’t really have a choice. He lies down on the dock and stares up at the sky.

 

“Is it selfish of me to want you to stay up here with me? Forever?” He asks softly. He sighs again and forces himself to get up. He would head up to the castle and find something to keep his mind off of everything.

 

Youngbae couldn’t wipe the smile off of his face. He had spent the whole afternoon  _ on land _ talking with Jiyong and it had been perfect. He found himself swimming in lazy zig-zags through the kelp fields and stopped, shaking his head to clear it. It had been a wonderful day, and he was going to see Jiyong again...but he needed to get a hold of himself. The only way that he could ever spend as much time with Jiyong as he truly wanted would be for him to stay on land. He grabs onto the nearest rock for support and shakes his head again.

 

“I would do it.” he says out loud. He stares out into the great expanse of the kelp fields, eyes wide as he lets that thought sink in.

 

He would spend the rest of his days on land, possibly with a normal human lifespan, if it meant that he could spend all of those moments with Jiyong. He shakes his head again, unable to believe that in such a short amount of time he was able to decide such a ridiculously delicate matter.

 

He needed to talk to Daesung.


	7. Chapter 7

The fairgrounds were empty save for the few mermen working to clean up after the festival. Seunghyun was staring rather dejectedly at the small pile of shells in front of him

 

“But I don’t  _ want _ to throw them out!” He says, a pout rather firmly planted across his face. Youngbae crosses his arms over his chest and frowns.

 

“You’re being childish. You made them once, you can make them again.” He says before letting out a sigh. “Why don’t you just keep them? Put them in your room or something.” Youngbae tries when it becomes obvious that Seunghyun was not going to stop whining.

 

Seunghyun pouts harder, if even possible. “But I didn’t make them for  _ me _ .” He says. Youngbae rolls his eyes and tries hard to contain his frustration. They had been cleaning up for well over two hours, and Youngbae just wasn’t in the mood to deal with Seunghyun’s childish actions.

 

“What’s the matter?” Youngbae tenses, his eyes widening in shock as he recognizes Daesung’s voice.

 

“Daesung?” He asks, turning around.

 

“Yes, I decided to come out for a swim.” He says, smiling brightly at Youngbae before turning his attention back to the issue he had come in on. “What’s the matter Seunghyun?”

 

Seunghyun had turned bright red the second Daesung appeared. He shakes his head, the pout gone from his face. “Nothing, nothing is wrong! Just, uh, cleaning up.” He says, gesturing toward the fairgrounds before looking down at the shell animals and taking a deep breath. Youngbae watches with fascination as a quick frown passes over Seunghyun’s face before he picks up one of the shell animals and delicately places it into the bag of garbage that he had tied to his belt.

 

“Oh! What are you doing?” Daesung asks, rushing forward to stop Seunghyun from grabbing any more. “Why are you throwing them out?” He asks, obviously upset by the thought. Seunghyun positively beams at him, before lifting a finger to point at Youngbae.

 

“Youngbae told me I had to throw them out.” He says, letting his face fall back into a pout.

 

Daesung turns to look at Youngbae. “But he spent so much time on them!” He says, and Youngbae sees Seunghyun smile brightly over Daesung’s head. 

 

Youngbae rolls his eyes and drops his arms to his sides. “Yes well, it’s either he throws them out or he keeps them...but he has no space in his room.” Daesung blinks a couple of times, obviously thinking hard about what to do.

 

“I can take them.” He says, and Youngbae is half-convinced that Seunghyun is going to faint. Daesung turns back toward Seunghyun and smiles brightly. “I have just the perfect spot for them right on my windowsill. They will look great there.”

 

Seunghyun just looks at Daesung for a moment before nodding. “Yes, I..I’ll...”

 

“Here, you can put them in this bag.” Youngbae says, rescuing his friend from his inability to talk. Seunghyun nods at him in thanks as Daesung carefully places the delicate shells into the bag. “So, what brings you out today?” Youngbae asks once Daesung was finished moving the shells.

 

“Ahh, well, I’ve decided that I enjoy going out for a short swim...it’s kind of lonely in my room sometimes.” He says, making sure that the shells are safe in the bag before backing up so that he can look at both Seunghun and Youngbae at once. “That and you didn’t stop by last night, so I was curious as to how your date went.”

 

Youngbae immediately flushes red. “It wasn’t a date.” He mumbles, causing Seunghyun’s mouth to tilt up into a smirk.

 

“Liar, it most definitely  _ was _ a date!” Seunghyun directs his gaze at Daesung, “He came back all dreamy smiles and swimming in lazy circles.”

 

Youngbae flushes an even darker shade of red. “I didn’t!” He says, his voice rising an octave higher than he wanted.

 

Daesung laughs and shakes his head. “It’s ok, Youngbae! Calm down! Just tell me how it went.” Youngbae looks around them, making sure that there is no one around before gesturing for the other two to move closer to him.

 

“We talked for hours.” He says, and Seunghyun rolls his eyes and tries to say something but Daesung grabs his arm to silence him. “and..and I...” He pauses, trying to think of a way to say it. “I went up onto the beach...onto dry land.”

 

Seunghyun’s eyes widen in shock. “Wait, no you didn’t!” He says loud enough that Youngbae raises his head to look around and make sure that no one had heard him. Daesung squeezes Seunghyun’s arm and gives him a look.

 

“Shh!” Seunghyun immediately shuts his mouth and looks down at the ground. “And...?” Daesung prompts, touching Youngbae’s arm lightly.

 

Youngbae takes a deep breath. “I had legs.” he says. Daesung sucks in a breath and his eyes widen in surprise and quite possibly excitement.

 

“No, really?” He asks. Youngbae nods and his mouth curves into a bright smile. “I almost can’t believe it. That’s fantastic Youngbae!”

 

Youngbae slowly starts to smile, before his face suddenly takes on a more troubled look. “I think I’m in trouble, Daesung.” He says, and Daesung tilts his head to the side.

 

“Why?” He asks, moving closer to Youngbae, worry making it’s way onto his face.

 

Youngbae lets out a sigh and looks off to the side. “I would stay up there if he asked me too.” He says quietly. He waits a moment before turning his head to see their reactions, afraid of what they might say or be thinking.

 

Seunghyun’s face was frozen in an odd mix of shock and horror, while Daesung seemed to just be momentarily stunned by the admission. It takes them a couple of moments to let the words fully process, and then Seunghyun is shaking his head and trying to back away out of Daesung’s firm grasp on his arm.

 

“No. No Youngbae, you can’t.” He says, and Youngbae is surprised by how quietly Seunghyun manages to say it.

 

Daesung looks pained for a moment, tugging on Seunghyun’s arm to bring him closer. “Youngbae...I...I should have known that you...” Daesung pauses, trying to collect his thoughts before he motions back over his shoulder. “Let’s go to my place and talk about this. I’m not upset, I just think we should talk about it before anything happens.” He says, noting the uncomfortable look on Youngbae’s face.

 

“Alright.” Youngbae says, throwing Seunghyun a guilty look before turning in the direction of Daesung’s house. 

 

Youngbae pauses and looks back, noting with a small smile how Daesung pauses to carefully lift the bag of shell animals off of the rock he had placed it on before tugging at Seunghyun’s arm softly to get him to move. He didn’t want to talk about staying on dry land, because he didn’t want to think about how willing he was to leave his friends behind.

 

**

 

Jiyong stared at the horse for a long couple of seconds, trying to decide if it was really going to be worth the fuss and possible dirtiness to ride it. He had been riding horses since he was young, but it had never been his favorite thing to do, as he had always preferred swimming and rowing. The horse paws at the ground anxiously and twitches its ears, causing Jiyong to throw it a startled glare. He had been in and out of his own thoughts all morning, and so was only paying attention to the horse peripherally.

 

“Maybe you shouldn’t go riding today...” Seungri says, and Jiyong can practically hear the amused smile on his servant’s face. Jiyong sighs deeply and runs a hand over his face.

 

“I’m going to ignore your amusement and hope that what you mean is that I have been given permission to skip out on riding today.” Seungri smothers a chuckle and nods, before realizing that Jiyong was still staring at the horse and so couldn’t see him.

 

“Yes, the riding master is worried that you might hurt yourself or the horse.” Seungri says, gesturing for one of the stable hands to take the horse back to its stall.

 

Jiyong lets out a sigh and turns toward the entrance of the stable. Seungri realizes that something must be severely wrong for the Prince not to scold him for being so informal. He suddenly feels guilty for testing the Prince’s mood by being purposefully informal, before brushing the guilt aside with a fortifying breath; it didn’t matter how he spoke to Jiyong right now as he needed to focus on what was causing the Prince’s odd mood.

 

“Where are you going, Sire?” Seungri asks, jogging to catch up to the Prince as he quickly exits the stables.

 

“The castle; where does it  _ look _ like I’m going?” Seungri smiles slightly at the edge in Jiyong’s voice.

 

“Well, you’ve been going down to the cove fairly often, so I wasn’t sure if you were going to go back down there or....”

 

Jiyong throws him a look that, if it were possible, probably would have killed him on the spot. “If I were going to the cove, I wouldn’t be walking toward the castle.” Seungri notes a sudden sadness crossing over Jiyong’s face. “I won’t be going back until tomorrow.” He says, and Seungri is now absolutely certain that the Prince is unhappy.

 

“Ah, did you...Is your ahh,  _ friend  _ not going to be there today?” Seungri asks, hoping he sounded sensitive and delicate, but knowing deep down that he most likely didn’t sound either. He was terribly curious about the Prince’s new... _ friend, _ especially since the prince was so clearly affected by him.

 

Jiyong stops in the middle of the path and turns to look at Seungri, causing the servant to stop short in order to avoid running into him. “What are you implying?” He asks, a slight edge to his voice.

 

“Nothing, sire! It’s just that you seem to enjoy his presence, but I am uncertain how to address him...” Seungri tries, wincing slightly at the ridiculousness of his own words.

 

Jiyong rolls his eyes and sighs, dragging his hand through his hair. “You don’t even know how to properly address me, why would I ever expect you to properly address anyone else?” He asks. Seungri has the decency to look slightly ashamed. “But it doesn’t matter. You might never meet him.” Jiyong continues, shaking the hair out of his face. He stops and touches his hair briefly, a slow smile curving over his lips. “I require a visit from the barber. I feel the need to change my hair.” 

 

Seungri blinks rapidly for a couple of moments, trying to process the change in conversation. “But it’s only been three weeks.” He says, confusion seeping into his voice. Jiyong rolls his eyes again and turns on his heel.

 

“Yes, three weeks too long.” He says, starting off toward the castle again.

 

“Does your friend not like it?” Seungri asks, though he knows that he really shouldn’t.

 

“No, he adores my hair.” Jiyong says, squinting up at the sky before sneaking a glance out across the ocean.

 

“But if he likes it...why would you change it?” Seungri asks, trying to understand.

 

Jiyong shakes his head, a mischievous and possibly even flirtatious smile crossing his face. “If he still likes it, then he is worth dealing with.”

 

Seungri nods, but frowns. “What are you testing him for? I’m sure he had a good reason not to be able to come visit you today....Sire.”

 

Jiyong’s lip twitches and he takes a deep breath. “No more questions. Go fetch the barber.” Seungri nods and hurries away, realizing that lingering would not be in his best interest.

  
Jiyong watches Seungri go, waiting for the young man to be out of his sight before slowing down to walk at a more leisurely pace. Seungri was right, of course; he had no real reason to be testing Youngbae. He didn’t even know what he was testing Youngbae for. All he really knew was that he desperately wanted Youngbae to approve of him no matter what, and the easiest way that he could think of to do that would be to change something that he knew that Youngbae already liked (of course it helped that Jiyong had already been considering changing his hairstyle for a little while, but that was periphery, he had a new goal now). He takes a deep breath, letting it out on a chuckle as he realizes how ridiculous he had been acting recently. He couldn’t deny it or ignore it. He was far more than just intrigued by Youngbae: He was fascinated, obsessed, infatuated, and quite possibly in love with the man. He shakes his head, the knowledge of how utterly unfortunate this whole thing could be racing around his head. He needed to think one step at a time; hair first, then Youngbae.


	8. Chapter 8

Jiyong ran his hand through his newly shorn hair, a smirk playing about his mouth as he tugged his fingers through it. He was thoroughly pleased with the new look, shaved on one side and long on the other, and the reactions from the Court had been well worth the effort. When his mother had raised an eyebrow and asked for the occasion (the rest of the court had been shocked into silence), Jiyong had rather cheerfully explained that he had been influenced by seaweed. The answer caused a good number of the people in the room to sigh in exasperation, but the only thing his lovely mother had done was nod and send him on his way.

 

He didn’t care what the court thought as they really had no say in his life, but teasing them like this never failed to amuse him. He takes a deep breath and looks around the cove. It was early morning and he felt energized and ready for the day. He was sprawled out on the dock, dressed as simply as possible, leaning back on his hands with his head tilted toward the still rising sun. He had remembered to bring some extra clothes for Youngbae just in case he came out of the water again, and had left them in a neatly folded pile in the boat along with his bag.

 

Seungri had insisted that Jiyong bring food and a blanket, even though Jiyong had continually insisted that it most certainly was not a date and that besides, he had no idea what Youngbae might like to eat. Seungri had just rolled his eyes and shoved the bag into Jiyong’s chest with a rather sarcastic “I’m sorry, how could I possibly have thought that you were going on a date? You’ve only been fixing your hair and playing dress-up for the last two and a half hours for  _ fun _ .” before bowing politely and walking out the door.

 

Jiyong smiles slightly, knowing that he is sometimes harder on his young servant than he really needs to be as the man somehow manages to put up with him. He sighs lightly, dropping his head back and letting the sun warm his neck and face. This was a relaxing reprieve from the Princely duties he had been forced to deal with the day before. He only wished that Youngbae were already there, next to him. They didn’t need to talk, hell, who was Jiyong kidding? He would have been fine if Youngbae were just  _ near _ him. That’s all that he wanted; Youngbae close to him. He wanted to be breathing the same air, and feeling the same heat from the sun.

 

He lets his ears tune into the sound of the water around him. Softly lapping against the wood of the dock and rocking the boat in a lazy rhythm, Jiyong drank up the sounds of the ocean, hoping to catch a sound that would alert him to Youngbae’s arrival. This would prove ineffective when just ten minutes later he opens his eyes so that he can reposition himself in the sunlight, only to discover Youngbae squatting in front of him, a small smile on his face.

 

“You’re awake.” Youngbae says softly, seemingly unfazed by the rather unmanly squeak of surprise that had passed through Jiyong’s lips.

 

“Yes, I am. How did you get here without me hearing you?” Jiyong asks, sitting up and frowning. 

 

Youngbae shrugs, allowing a brighter smile to cross his features. “Maybe you were sleeping?” He asks, leaning forward and tilting his head to the side. “You changed your hair.” he says, reaching out a hand to grasp the hair that was left.

 

“I told you I would.” Jiyong says, suddenly nervous that Youngbae doesn’t like it and fervently wishing that he hadn’t changed it.

 

Youngbae runs his hand over the shaved side, causing Jiyong to close his eyes and sigh. “It suits you...somehow.” He says, moving his hand to run over the hair dangling off to the right side of Jiyong’s head.

 

Jiyong smiles and opens his eyes, noting that Youngbae was wearing the pants that he had brought, but not the shirt. “Did the shirt not fit?” He asks, gesturing toward Youngbae’s bare torso when the man only looks at him in confusion.

 

Youngbae’s face goes a little pink and he ducks his head down so that Jiyong can’t see his eyes. “I didn’t know how to put it on.” He says quietly, and Jiyong lets out a soft chuckle.

 

“Ah, it’s alright, you don’t need it.” he says, barely managing to hide the once-over that he gives Youngbae’s bare torso. Youngbae smiles brightly and moves to sit down next to him, facing the ocean.

 

“Um, is it OK if...” Youngbae starts, before stopping and looking down at his fingers.

 

Jiyong turns his head to look at him. “Is it OK what?” He asks, smiling lightly.

 

Youngbae clears his throat and starts again. “My friends want to meet you...is that OK?” He asks.

 

Jiyong is silent for a second, panicking over the thought that the new mermen were going to meet him while he was dressed far less than his best, and directly after he had been ogling their friend. He shakes his head quickly and brushes his hair away from his face. “Of course it’s OK. If I’d have known I would have dressed more appropriately for a first meeting.”

 

Youngbae laughs and rolls his eyes. “You look fine, trust me.” he says, before he gets up and leans over the edge of the dock. He drops his hand into the water, making a small splash, and not 10 seconds later, two heads slowly broke the surface.

 

The two mermen, one with short teal-colored hair and the other with longer brown hair that looked like it normally covered at least one of his eyes, slowly move forward and pull themselves up so that their elbows are resting on the dock. Youngbae smiles, and leans back as they get closer and taps Jiyong on the arm.

 

“This is Jiyong.” He says, and both men nod. The one with the brown hair smiles brightly and sticks out his hand.

 

“I’m Daesung! It’s a pleasure to meet you!” He says, grasping Jiyong’s hand in his still slightly damp one. Jiyong can’t help but find Daesung to be comforting, and he understands immediately why Youngbae would enjoy talking with him.

 

All eyes turn to the man with teal hair, and his eyes go wide in slight fright. Youngbae nudges his shoulder and Daesung touches his arm, in the hopes that it will calm him down. “I’m Seunghyun.” He mutters out, and Jiyong smiles.

 

“It’s nice to meet you as well. Youngbae talks about you both.” He says, before stopping as he realizes that he doesn’t really know what else to say.

 

“Oh yes, well we’ve been dying to meet you!” Daesung says, adjusting his arms so that he can be more comfortable. Jiyong turns to look at Youngbae, an amused smirk on his face and is pleased to note that the Youngbae was flushing red.

 

“Oh? He’s talked about me?” Jiyong asks, scooting closer. Daesung smiles even more brightly, which Jiyong had never imagined could be possible, and nods enthusiastically.

 

“Yes, he talks about you all of the time! It’s rather sweet really.” He says, and Youngbae claps a hand over his face to hide how red he was.

 

“By the Gods, Daesung, why don’t you just tell Jiyong about Youngbae’s past relationships and what food he had for breakfast yesterday.” Seunghyun says, realizing how embarrassed Youngbae was becoming.

 

“He hasn’t had any  _ past relationships _ ; and you and I both know that he skipped breakfast yesterday.” Daesung says, before his eyes widen and he realizes what Seunghyun was trying to infer. “Oh, oh sorry!” He says, reaching out to touch Youngbae’s knee. He turns back to look at Jiyong. “I’m sorry! I don’t really spend a lot of time with large numbers of people so... I just..sorry.” Daesung’s face flushes red with guilt and embarrassment, and Jiyong frowns.

 

“No, don’t feel bad! I enjoyed listening to what you had to say.” Jiyong says, a smile lighting up his face at the end. Youngbae snorts lightly and Jiyong is certain he muttered something along the lines of ‘of course you did.’ 

 

“Ah, it was rude of me, and now you will think poorly of us and Youngbae.” Daesung rambles, and Jiyong shakes his head.

 

“Highly unlikely. I already enjoy you all far too much and there is literally nothing that could make me dislike Youngbae.” He says it to calm Daesung down, but the bright look that appears in both Daesung’s and Seunghyun’s eyes is unexpected.

 

“Really?” Seunghyun asks, and Jiyong is taken aback by how deep and rather threatening the man’s voice is.

 

Jiyong nervously flicks his hair out of his face and looks directly at Seunghyun. “Of course.” he says, looking far more confident and comfortable than he felt. “Now, let’s talk about other things.” He says, looking around at them.

 

Youngbae nods enthusiastically. “Yes, that sounds like an excellent idea.” He says, his enthusiasm causing everyone to laugh. 

 

They spent the next two hours lounging around the dock as neither Seunghyun nor Daesung were willing to leave the water. Daesung spent some time marveling over Youngbae’s legs and their general lack of scales above water, which Jiyong was amused to note caused Seunghyun to get huffy and unhappy. The two left after Daesung, in a fit of excitement, reached forward to touch Youngbae’s bare leg; Seunghyun barely contained a snarl of possessive anger before grabbing Daesung’s arm and saying as politely as he seemed to be able to manage that they “should leave the two lovers alone”. Youngbae had blushed scarlet, though Jiyong had merely raised an eyebrow and nodded at them in acknowledgement.

 

“I’m sorry about that.” Youngbae says. He was sitting with his legs crossed and was fiddling with his fingers in his lap.

 

“What, about your rather endearing friends?” Jiyong asks, smiling softly in an attempt to cheer Youngbae up. Youngbae just scoffs lightly and Jiyong rolls his eyes, leaning forward to lift up Youngbae’s chin. “Shh, I’m glad I met them. Now I know who you’re talking about, and what they’re like.” Jiyong smiles, and Youngbae notes that this is his favorite of Jiyong’s smiles; all gums and teeth and real happiness. “I like them!”

 

Youngbae laughs lightly before taking a deep breath and moving his head out of Jiyong’s grasp. The loss of contact allows Youngbae to breathe again, Jiyong’s touch always caused him to lose that basic ability. A smile lights across his face as he redirects his gaze back to Jiyong. “I’m glad...Sometimes they are all that keeps me sane.” 

 

Jiyong nods, allowing them to fall into silence for a short moment while he stares at the hand that he had used to touch Youngbae’s face. After a couple of moments of thought, Jiyong tilts his head to the side and looks up at Youngbae. 

“How long have Seunghyun and Daesung been dating? Seunghyun is a little too jealous for them to be a long-standing couple.” Jiyong watches the expressions crossing over Youngbae’s face, feeling amused when it lands on a frown.

 

“They’re not dating...Seunghyun makes Daesung uncomfortable; Seunghyun has the tendency to always say or do the wrong thing when around Daesung.” Youngbae says, tilting his head to the side as well, exchanging his frown for a look of open curiosity. “What made you think that they were dating?” Jiyong laughs and pats Youngbae lightly on the cheek before leaning back and looking out over the ocean.

 

“You’re so cute sometimes.” He says, and Youngbae pouts slightly, moving so that he’s directly in front of Jiyong’s line of vision.

 

“Tell me!” He whines, and Jiyong can’t help but to smile again, an amused chuckle escaping his lips before he sits up and pats Youngbae’s shoulder.

 

“If they aren’t dating now, then they will be soon.” He says, using Youngbae’s shoulder to help him stand up. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.” He reaches out his hand for Youngbae to take and helps the man up before starting toward the beach.

 

“I don’t...Why did you think that they were dating?” Youngbae asks, unable to move past that fact. He had never really thought of it as a possibility before, and he wanted to know why Jiyong had come to that conclusion.

 

“Didn’t you see how possessive Seunghyun was? Every time Daesung mentioned your body he practically snarled.” Jiyong stops in his tracks and turns to look at Youngbae, who had stopped with him and was looking at him uncertainly. “Not that I blame him. If the person I was dating was fawning over you, I would feel threatened.” 

 

Youngbae furrows his eyebrows and frowns for a couple of moments before tilting his head to the side. “Seunghyun was jealous of the attention that Daesung was paying me?” He asks, though it’s more of a statement and Jiyong knows that Youngbae hadn’t really meant to say it out loud. Youngbae’s eyes light up after a couple of seconds and he smiles. “I should have known! Ahh, that explains why Seunghyun is always so uncomfortable and stuttering around Daesung.” He takes a deep breath. “Sometimes I’m so slow at these things.” Jiyong smiles and squeezes Youngbae’s hand.

 

“It’s alright,” he says, finding it rather amusing. “Sometimes you don’t notice the things that are right under your nose.” Youngbae nods and moves closer, causing Jiyong to take in a sharp breath.

 

Youngbae moves even closer still, their bodies mere short inches apart, before stopping. Jiyong immediately flushes, wondering if Youngbae had finally noticed or understood what Jiyong’s extra-long stares and overly-careful compliments had meant. He hitches his gaze away from Youngbae’s face, staring instead at the shorter man’s hair in an attempt to hide his blush just in case Youngbae  _ hadn’t _ finally understood, and was just completely unaware of personal space. Jiyong was so busy staring at Youngbae’s forehead so that he didn’t get caught blushing, that he didn’t notice where Youngbae was looking. 

 

“Who’s that.” Youngbae asks softly, his free hand coming up to grip Jiyong’s upper arm possessively. He felt the sudden need to protect Jiyong, as he watched the unknown person slowly sneak along the ridge, trying to stay out of sight.

 

Jiyong had let his eyes drift closed while waiting for Youngbae to do something, but they snapped open at the softly spoken words and sudden tight grip on his upper arm. After blinking away his alarm, he allows himself to grin as he realizes that Youngbae’s whisper had been more of a hiss and the hand on his arm was more of a protective grasp. Youngbae tightens his hold on Jiyong’s hand when it becomes clear that Jiyong was ignoring the question.

 

“There’s someone up on the ridge.” He says, his voice is soft but Jiyong can hear the hiss of urgency in it.

 

Jiyong allows himself a deep breath, enjoying the tight hold Youngbae had on him, before he steps back a bit and shrugs his shoulders. “It’s probably a servant. Most likely Seungri as he has been practically  _ dying _ to meet you.” He smiles and watches as Youngbae’s face relaxes slightly, though it stays guarded.

 

“Why doesn’t he just show himself?” He asks, his voice louder but still sounding wary.

 

“Because I told him that I was to be left alone today.” Jiyong pulls on their linked hands and Youngbae loosens his grip on Jiyong’s shoulder. Jiyong flashes him a smile and without turning around calls out: “Seungri? Could you grab my bag from the boat? I seem to have left it there.”

 

Youngbae notes the slight change in Jiyong’s voice; he’s still in a good mood, he’s still playing, but there was a strong chord of authority there that couldn’t be ignored. He keeps his eyes trained on Jiyong’s face, noting the small but smug smile that crosses it when the sound of hurried steps could be heard.

 

“Yes, Sire!” A voice that Youngbae recognizes from the first time he saw Jiyong, shouts. Youngbae lifts his gaze from Jiyong’s face in time to see a young man with extremely short black hair come jogging past them toward the dock. Youngbae watches the man as he hurries onto the dock and to the boat, letting go of Jiyong’s arm as he turns to keep track of the man.

 

Jiyong scowls lightly, unhappy with Seungri’s appearance, but also secretly glad that he had come; Youngbae’s reaction to Seungri’s lurking was well worth the interruption. “Hurry up! I’m hungry.” Jiyong says loudly, crossing one arm over his chest as the other was still linked with Youngbae’s.

 

Seungri rolls his eyes and moves a little quicker. He knows that he probably shouldn’t have snuck down to see, but he couldn’t help his curiosity. He had been fairly disappointed to find that all the Prince and the attractive man had done aside from talk was hold hands. Seungri was secretly rooting for the Prince to have found somebody he liked and wanted to be with from outside of the court, as the girls presented to him were normally silly...and, well...they were girls. 

 

Seungri shakes his head to clear it of these thoughts as he comes to a stop in front of Jiyong and his friend. He notes, with both alarm and amusement, the way that the man shifts subtly so that he was kind of in front of Jiyong. It was a protective stance that Seungri catches Jiyong noticing as well, and he couldn’t help but find it cute.

 

“Here you are, Sire.” Seungri says, holding the bag out to show that he had, indeed, brought it from the boat.

 

“Very good. Next time you pack me a bag, make sure it’s not so heavy.” Jiyong says, looking down his nose at Seungri, even though he was slightly shorter. “What did you pack it with, rocks?” He asks, turning around and tugging on Youngbae’s hand. “Come, let’s sit over there.” 

 

Jiyong tugs on Youngbae’s hand again, and Youngbae rather reluctantly turns to follow him, looking back at Seungri every couple of steps.

 

“What’s his name?” Youngbae asks, stumbling slightly as he looks back and Jiyong tugs his arm to keep him moving.

 

“Seungri.” Jiyong replies.  _ Annoying brat _ , Jiyong adds in his head. He smiles to himself and refocuses on walking toward the cliff and a shaded area next to the wall of rocks where he wanted to sit down.

 

Jiyong stops suddenly causing Youngbae to run into his back because he had been paying more attention to what Seungri was doing than to where he was walking. Jiyong stifles a laugh as Youngbae stutters out an apology after righting himself. Seungri brings the bag forward and takes out a blanket, which he lays on the ground at their feet. Seungri turns to move away from the blanket as Jiyong and Youngbae sit down, but Youngbae reaches out and grabs his arm.

 

“Where are you going?” He asks, and Seungri is startled by the contact so he just shrugs. “Sit! Are you Jiyong’s best friend?” Youngbae’s voice was practically bubbling with excitement, and Seungri was unsure what to do. He looks quickly to Jiyong who just nods and gestures over to where Youngbae was patting the ground.

 

Seungri takes the seat with a small smile. “Ahh, I’ve known him for a very long time.” He says, hesitating to use the term ‘friend’.

 

“You were there that morning...in the boat!” Youngbae says, and Jiyong scowls at the excited note in Youngbae’s voice. Seungri nods, looking quickly over at Jiyong and noting the nasty scowl on his face. Youngbae turns then and directs his attention on Jiyong. Seungri watches in amusement as Jiyong immediately schools his features into a more acceptable neutral expression. “What was the animal in the water?” He asks, and Seungri tilts his head to the side.

 

“It was Gaho, my dog.” Jiyong says sweetly, and Seungri holds back a laugh. Youngbae nods and turns back to Seungri.

 

“I’m Youngbae. It’s nice to meet you.” Youngbae says, smiling brightly. Seungri can’t help but to smile back, especially when he sees the deep glare that Jiyong sends his way.

 

“It’s nice to meet you too, I’m Seungri.” He says. “Where are you from? I’ve never seen you in the village.” Youngbae opens his mouth to respond, but is cut off by Jiyong.

 

“He’s from out there.” Jiyong says vaguely, gesturing out toward the ocean. “What did you pack for lunch?” he asks, trying to distract Seungri, and hopefully get him to leave.

 

“Oh! You packed food?” Youngbae asks, back to being interested in Seungri again. Jiyong sighs angrily and leans back.

 

It was shaping up to be a long afternoon, Jiyong decides, as he watches Youngbae fawn over Seungri. He was certain that the excitement that Youngbae was now exhibiting was partly to do with Seungri being the only other human that the merman had ever met, but Jiyong didn’t like to think about the fact that that could also apply to him. Did Youngbae only like him because he was a novelty, and if he met more humans would he like them more? He had met more mermen, and though it had only been that morning, he knew that he was attracted to Youngbae for Youngbae....what he wanted to know was if the terribly innocent and blind-to-attraction Youngbae was attracted to him.

 

Jiyong had gathered from his short time with Youngbae’s friends that Youngbae was just as innocent as he seemed, and Jiyong was worried that that could mean that Youngbae didn’t feel anything more than just plain friendship for him. However, his possessive actions and the fact that his friends had basically come up to make sure that Jiyong was a good guy, made Jiyong believe that Youngbae definitely felt something for him. Something strong enough that his friends felt the need to check up on him.

 

Jiyong throws a useless glare in Seungri and Youngbae’s direction, feeling a pang of jealousy as Seungri answers questions about the food and the area that Youngbae directs at him.  _ He _ wants to be the one answering questions,  _ he _ wants to seem smart and like he is worth something. Jiyong sighs and sizes up his options: he could move so that he could be a part of the conversation, or he could move so that he could nap. He chooses the napping option as he felt that moving to be a part of the conversation would seem desperate, and he didn’t want Seungri to have  _ that _ to lord over him. 

  
Youngbae was sitting at the perfect angle, his back technically to Jiyong but not completely, so that Jiyong could turn around and lay back, placing his head on Youngbae’s right leg; Youngbae’s bare waist directly next to his head. He hears the pause in conversation as Youngbae tenses slightly and stopped talking before relaxing and going back to whatever he was talking about, only he had moved his arm so that his hand was on the ground on the other side of Jiyong’s neck, loosely trapping his head in place. Jiyong smiles and lets out a sigh. Yes, the nap had been the best idea.


	9. Chapter 9

Youngbae had fallen...hard. 

 

Seungri had bowed his way away from the blanket that they had been having lunch on about twenty minutes or so ago. They had eaten a small amount of the food, making sure to leave some for the sleeping Jiyong, before Seungri had suddenly shaken his head and jumped up; saying that he should probably leave and get Gaho ready for the evening and finish his work.

 

Youngbae had just nodded, mildly surprised by Seungri’s energetic exit, and said goodbye. He was kind of sad to see the young man go, as he had been having fun asking questions, but at the same time he was kind of relieved. It had taken a lot more effort than he would have ever imagined to keep all of his focus on Seungri while Jiyong’s head was resting on his leg.

 

Jiyong’s face was pointed toward Youngbae’s exposed waist, and if Youngbae shifted just right (while reaching for a piece of bread, or just shifting his position), then Jiyong’s mouth would bump against his hip. It wasn’t just that, as Youngbae had quickly noticed that possibility and had fought to find a way around it; the shivers that traveled down his spine every time Jiyong’s mouth accidentally came into contact with his side were far too distracting. No, it was the tempting desire to move his hand from the ground beside Jiyong’s head so that he could run his fingers over Jiyong’s face; it was the magnetic pull that was dragging his eyes down to stare at Jiyong’s closed eyes and attractive profile.

 

Yes, Youngbae was glad that Seungri was gone because now he could stare at Jiyong’s face and muse over the fact that even while sleeping Jiyong had an immense amount of power over him. He had been sitting in the same position since Jiyong had laid down, but he was getting uncomfortable. As carefully as he can manage, he turns a little and lifts Jiyong’s head, settling it more fully onto his lap and stretching his legs out. He holds his breath as Jiyong makes a small noise and shifts his head so that he is facing up instead of toward Youngbae, but Jiyong doesn’t open his eyes, so Youngbae relaxes again.

 

“You’re so...” He breathes, unable to finish the sentence because of the innumerable amount of things that he  _ could _ say about the man. He drags his fingers lightly and carefully over Jiyong’s face, starting at the eyes and tracing every feature. Youngbae smiles as he watches Jiyong’s mouth twitch at the light as air contact he’s making. “Beautiful...” he mutters, finishing his sentence with a word that he imagines would make Jiyong frown in protest but rather perfectly describes the man anyway.

 

Youngbae had fallen hard, and the only advice that Daesung had been able to give him on the matter was not helping. 

 

_ “Keep your mind and heart open. If he feels the same...you have nothing to worry about. If he doesn’t...we will work on that if it comes to it.”  _

 

_ If _ . Youngbae liked the sounds of ‘if’, but it also scared him. It was definitely a possibility that Jiyong wouldn’t want to be with him forever, no matter the type of relationship. Youngbae would settle for best friends until death if only it meant that he could see Jiyong’s face every day and hear his voice and watch him move....But that wasn’t what he desperately wanted; and while he had never really felt this way about anyone else before...he knew that this was for real, and that this would last. If his friends had thought that he was bad after the first time that he saw Jiyong...then he wasn’t certain that  _ anyone _ would be able to handle him after a lifetime.

 

Youngbae drops his hand to Jiyong’s hair, allowing a distracted smile to cross his face as he plays with the long strands. He moves his hand over to the shaved part on the opposite side and brushes his fingers across it. Jiyong makes a small noise and Youngbae sees his eyes flutter open.

 

“Good afternoon.” Youngbae says, a smile planted firmly on his face.

 

Jiyong returns the smile, a small amount of confusion crossing his features. “Did I fall asleep?” He asks. Youngbae just nods and Jiyong turns his head to the side, trying to look around. “Where’s Seungri?” He asks, and Youngbae is certain there is a little bit of guarded disdain leaking into his voice.

 

“He left a little while ago.” Youngbae says, and Jiyong smiles. “He said he needed to get Gaho ready for the evening...what does that mean?” Jiyong lets out a short laugh and waits for a couple of seconds before sitting up, ducking under Youngbae’s arm so that he doesn’t hit his head.

 

“Gaho likes to go on walks, especially at night.” Jiyong says, fixing his hair before turning to face Youngbae. “Of course, it doesn’t take very long to get him ready, so Seungri probably had other things that he needed to do as well.” Youngbae smiles before reaching forward and fixing a wayward piece of hair for Jiyong.

 

“Oh. Well I’m glad he’s gone.” Youngbae says softly. “I enjoyed talking to him, but it was hard to concentrate when all I wanted to do was watch you sleep.” He blushes slightly and Jiyong’s heart feels like it’s trying to beat out of his chest. “Is that weird? I probably shouldn’t have said that.” He says, looking down slightly and shaking his head.

 

“No!” Jiyong half-shouts, startling both himself and Youngbae and causing him to burn red with embarrassment as well. “No, it’s..it’s fine.” Jiyong says, much more calmly than before. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you like that...It was terribly rude of me.” Youngbae shakes his head.

 

“No, no, it’s perfectly fine!” he says, and Jiyong can see that Youngbae is getting nervous again.

 

“What was for lunch, I’m starving.” He says, getting up and moving around the blanket to sit where Seungri had been. Youngbae throws him a smile, and Jiyong smiles back while he digs through the bag. 

 

“Seungri said that you would like the fruit...” Youngbae says, trying to come up with something to say. He points at one of the bowls that Jiyong had pulled out, and Jiyong looks up at him with a smile.

 

“Seungri was right.” He says, and Youngbae isn’t sure why that smile was making him feel light-headed, but it was and he was almost glad when Jiyong looked back down.

 

Youngbae had been happy when Jiyong had changed the topic to eating, but now that Jiyong was actually going to be eating, Youngbae wasn’t sure that he was going to be able to handle it. If he didn’t know better, he would think that Jiyong was doing it on purpose. Every item of food was inspected briefly before being brought slowly up to his mouth, where he would either put it in (slowly and a little distractedly, like he was paying more attention to Youngbae’s words than eating) or he would pause, leaving the food in front of his mouth as he spoke. Both were torture as they brought an immense amount of attention to Jiyong’s lips and fingers, and Youngbae couldn’t count the number of times he had lost track of what he was saying because of it. 

 

He knew that Jiyong had caught him staring a couple of times; the way that he tilted up one corner of his mouth in a brief but definitely smug smile was evidence enough of that. But, he couldn’t stop, and he was starting to believe that Jiyong was most definitely eating like this on purpose.

 

“Stop it.” Youngbae says suddenly, interrupting a short lull in their conversation. Jiyong had picked up a grape from the dish in front of him and rolled it slowly between his thumb and forefinger before slowly pushing it into his mouth, a small smile curving his lips as he bit down. Youngbae hadn’t been able to do anything but watch, and he just  _ knew _ that Jiyong knew what he was doing.

 

“Stop what?” Jiyong asks, his face a mask of innocence as he reaches forward for another grape. “Are you alright? You’ve been rather distracted...” He asks, trying to cover his small smile with the grape that he was getting ready to put into his mouth.

 

Youngbae grits his teeth and swallows hard as he watches Jiyong. It’s as the grape is pushed into Jiyong’s mouth that Youngbae can’t take it anymore and he pushes himself forward, grabbing Jiyong by the upper arm and the back of the head as he presses their lips together.

 

Jiyong’s mouth had still been partially open, but the gasp of surprise opened it further, allowing Youngbae better access and giving him the chance to dart his tongue inside to steal the grape. Jiyong had barely recovered from his shock, one hand trying to find its way into Youngbae’s hair, when Youngbae pulls back. He was breathing rather heavily, but he has a triumphant smile on his face and Jiyong notices the grape briefly appear between Youngbae’s lips before it disappears again and Youngbae is picking up the food that had spilled because of his attack.

 

“What did...” Jiyong says, his eyes open wide and the ability to speak eluding him. “That was my grape!” He says, finding that pretending to be angry made it easier for him to think of things to say.

 

“Was it?” Youngbae asks, sitting back on his heels and looking up at Jiyong with a small smile. “Because it seemed to me that you were practically begging for me to take it.” He isn’t certain where this confidence is coming from, though it is probably being fueled by Jiyong’s feigned anger. He is feeling a little tight, and he knows that it’s because of Jiyong.

 

Jiyong raises his eyebrows, a tinge of pink brushing his cheeks as he tries to think of a way to respond. He looks away from Youngbae for a moment, unable to think rationally when the fact that the man had just kissed him while shirtless was staring him rather directly in the face. There is really nothing for it, Jiyong thinks, before he pushes the neatly re-filled dishes rather haphazardly out of his way and inches forward toward Youngbae on his knees.

 

“Or maybe I was begging for something else?” He says, and Youngbae can’t help but wonder how it is even possible for Jiyong’s eyes to get darker than they already are, or for Jiyong’s voice to become even more attractive.

 

Jiyong smiles, glad to be back in control as he sees Youngbae freeze; his gaze lowering to Jiyong’s lips. He waits only a single heartbeat longer before closing the distance between them, his mouth landing firmly on top of Youngbae’s and his hands traveling up Youngbae’s back before stopping at his shoulder blades. Youngbae brings one of his hands up to cup the back of Jiyong’s head while the other holds them up as the force of Jiyong pressing into him had caused Youngbae to lean back. 

 

He breaks the kiss for long enough to change positions so that his legs are out in front of him and Jiyong’s are wrapped around his waist, and then Youngbae presses their mouths back together, wondering why they hadn’t done this before. It was better than breathing, it was better than all of the new sensations he had come to crave from the dry world; it was Jiyong and it was perfect and though he’s having a hard time thinking of anything but the taste of Jiyong’s mouth, he can’t help but to imagine briefly how awful his life would be without Jiyong in it.

 

Jiyong breaks the kiss this time, and presses his forehead against Youngbae’s, his breathing hard and coming out in rough gasps. They were close enough that their chests would occasionally bump while expanding on a harsh intake of breath. Jiyong works on controlling his breathing, his eyes closed as he concentrates, allowing the feeling of Youngbae’s arms around him and Youngbae’s breath fanning across his face to fill him up.

 

With his breathing finally in some semblance of proper working order, he takes a deep breath. “I want to sit with you here, forever.” He mutters, tightening his grip on Youngbae’s shoulders.

 

Youngbae lets out a soft sigh, running his hand up into Jiyong’s hair. “Don’t tempt me.” He says softly. Jiyong can’t help but to allow a small laugh to escape his lips as he sits back to look at Youngbae better.

 

“I thought that I already had.” He asks, a smirk making its way onto his face.

 

“Yes,” Youngbae says, smiling and letting out a deep sigh, “Yes you most certainly have.” He says, and Jiyong wonders if Youngbae is talking about more than just the kiss.

 

It’s a few short hours later, and they are at the dock. Jiyong is sitting with his feet skimming the water and Youngbae is floating in front of him, his arms resting on Jiyong’s knees. 

 

“Will you come back tomorrow?” Jiyong asks, tilting his head to the side as he idly rolls one of the shells attached to Youngbae’s braids between his fingers.

 

“I would come back every day if it meant that I could see you.” He mutters, his eyes closed. Jiyong smiles, dropping the shell in his hand in favor of running his hand over the top of Youngbae’s head.

 

Jiyong sighs, “I wish that I could see you whenever I wanted to.” He says it idly, almost without thought. He keeps his eyes trained on the horizon, hoping that Youngbae couldn’t hear his desperation; he also hoped that Youngbae didn’t think him selfish for wanting that.

 

Youngbae opens his eyes at Jiyong’s words. He casts his gaze up at Jiyong’s face, only to see the underside of his chin as Jiyong is looking out over the sea. How could he tell Jiyong that he is ready and more than willing to spend the rest of his life on land with him, without sounding desperate and rash? He sighs and moves one of his hands so that he can play with the hem of Jiyong’s shirt.

 

“I would stay if you asked.” Youngbae says, trying to sound as light and nonchalant as Jiyong had. “I would come back tomorrow, prepared to stay.” He says, his voice only cracking slightly at the thought of leaving his friends and the life he knew forever.

 

Jiyong brings his hand up to caress the back of Youngbae’s head. “I would feel guilty for asking you to stay with me....” He says, and Youngbae tries not to read it as the rejection that it feels like. “But I would ask anyway because I  _ am _ selfish. I’m needy too.” He says, looking down finally and lifting Youngbae’s head up to look him in the eye. “I’m selfish, needy and whiny. I change my hair after you tell me that you like it the way that it is, and if I didn’t have the prospect of seeing you down here early in the morning, I wouldn’t wake up until noon.”

 

Youngbae smiles, and shifts his head to press a kiss on Jiyong’s palm. “I wouldn’t feel whole if I weren’t around you.” He whispers, turning his gaze back up to Jiyong’s face. “I would spend the time that you were sleeping late, down here with my friends. I would learn how to dance like Seungri was telling me you liked. I don’t care, Jiyong. Being around you as often as possible is all that matters to me. I don’t know what will happen. I don’t know how it will work...”

 

Jiyong lets out a short laugh. “I can picture your fin coming back as you try to shower in the bathroom.” He laughs a little more and leans forward, pressing a kiss to Youngbae’s forehead. “I want this so desperately, Youngbae. Don’t tease me with the possibility. I want this to work.”

 

Youngbae smiles up at him, determination written clear across his face. “It will work out.”

 

“Come back tomorrow and tell me then.” Jiyong says, trying his hardest not to haul Youngbae back up onto the dock so that he can drag him up to the castle right then and there.

 

Youngbae laughs and pushes himself back and off of Jiyong’s knees so that only his head and neck are above water. “I will be back bright and early tomorrow morning...I can’t promise I will be alone...but I  _ can _ promise that if you ask me again tomorrow, the answer that you get will be the final one.” 

 

Jiyong nods and leans forward, his elbows on his knees. “I await your return with baited breath.” He says, before winking and blowing a kiss.

 

Youngbae bites his lip, trying to stop a smile as he shakes his head. He raises a hand in a short wave before dipping below the surface and disappearing from sight.

  
Jiyong sighs, feeling ridiculously happy. He should probably alert his parents to the possibility of a new house guest, he thinks, a rather wicked grin crossing his face. If Youngbae does decide to stay in the ocean, he wouldn’t blame him, but he probably wouldn’t be able to function properly. His world was beginning to revolve around Youngbae, and while he knows how bad that could be, he can’t help but to think that there could be worse things that he revolved around.


	10. Chapter 10

“Alright.” Daesung says, his voice clear and honest. Youngbae just looks at him for a moment before turning to Seunghyun to gauge his reaction.

 

“Ahh...” Seunghyun says, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “I don’t...” He lets out a harsh breath, bubbles billowing out around his head. “I wish that he could come down here. But since he can’t, all I can say is...just, you have to visit us.” Daesung puts his hand on Seunghyun’s shoulder, silently willing the blue-haired man not to get too emotional.

 

“Oh, Seunghyun. I could never forget about either of you. We can meet in the cove...” Youngbae says, trying not to think about this conversation as the goodbye that it probably was.

 

“Youngbae, I just want to warn you that though I agree with this and think that you most definitely should do it, we need to remember some of the old stories and myths.” Daesung says, moving in front of Seunghyun so that Youngbae is forced to pay close attention to him. “Even though you can look like a human, your fin can still appear in the water...You will crave the ocean, and crave swimming. I don’t want you to forget that, because it could make you rethink your decision to stay.”

 

Youngbae nods, but Seunghyun, unhappy about both being pushed behind Daesung and about his best friend leaving, shakes his head and pushes his way into view. “Why would he rethink his decision because of that, that would be stupid.”

 

Daesung smiles and pats him on the arm. “He might be antsy and craving something. He might feel unhappy and discontent. The problem is that he would be feeling those things because he misses the ocean, but he might think that it’s because of Jiyong, just because that is who he’s around.” Daesung turns back to Youngbae. “Just visit the ocean often. It’s a part of you. We will come visit you, you know that.”

 

Seunghyun nods, still frowning. "Have you told your brother?" he asks, and Youngbae makes a face.

 

"I don't know how to tell him." he says, closing his eyes and letting out a sigh. "He wouldn't understand if I told him that I wanted to spend the rest of my life out of the water with a human..." he sighs again, shaking his head.

 

"I'll come with you." Seunghyun says quietly. "You can't just disappear without telling your brother where you've gone...he'll understand; he has to...he's your brother." Youngbae smiles appreciatively at his friend and nods, unable to think of anything to say.

 

"Then, in the morning, we will come with you to the cove and, and say...say goodbye." Daesung says, his voice trailing off at the end. Youngbae nods, trying his hardest not to break down. 

 

Talking with his brother was easier than he had imagined it would be.

 

"I always knew you wouldn't stay here." He said quietly, though there was a smile on his face. "I really wish you had told me sooner though, you know? So that I would have time to prepare for you leaving forever..."

 

Youngbae almost broke down, "It's everything I want and need." He whispers, and Hyunbae smiles a little more brightly and pulls Youngbae into a hug. 

 

"I wouldn't be a good older brother if I tried to keep you from something that you needed, now would I?” He asks with a laugh. “Besides, if that week of moping was anything to go by, no one down here would be able to handle you after a short while.” Youngbae laughs into his brother’s shoulder before pulling himself away and shaking his head.

 

“You can still visit me...” He says, kind of unsure. 

 

“And watch my younger brother get old and die before me? You know they die younger on land because they dry out, don’t you?” Hyunbae asks, the light laugh in his voice betraying his joke.

 

“Aish! Stop it!” Youngbae says, laughing. “Come visit me. Promise.” He says, and his brother shakes his head.

 

“I’ll come tomorrow to see this human that’s got you all up in knots, but if I visit you it will be a surprise.” He says, a small and sad smile on his face.

 

Youngbae sighs, but nods his head; it was the best he would get out of his brother, and he knew that. “Tomorrow morning.” He says, and Hyunbae nods.

~

 

“What would you say, mother, if I brought home a man tomorrow?” Jiyong asks as he and his mother, along with her attendants, went for a walk around the castle.

 

“I would ask for his name.” She says, lifting her skirts with her free hand as she steps around a fallen branch. 

 

“Ahh, and if I told you his name; what then would you say?” Jiyong asks, fighting to stay nonchalant and keep the smile from his face.

 

She sighs, “ _ When _ you tell me his name.” She says, and Jiyong allows himself to smile at her tone. “I will ask you where you expect him to stay.” 

 

“I will tell you not to worry about that.”

 

“And so I will undoubtedly worry about it.” She stops and gestures for her attendants to leave them for a moment before she turns to Jiyong and places a hand on his cheek. “I worry about you, you know.” She says, and he looks down, trying to avoid her gaze. “All I want is for you to be happy. Is this a rebellion? Do you not like the court girls?” He raises his gaze and levels a look at her.

 

“Do  _ you _ like the court girls, mother?” She lets out a sigh and he shakes his head. “You know I have never  _ liked _ them, you also knew this would happen.” She stares at him for a moment and Jiyong gives her a pleading look. “You will love him.” He says.

 

She shakes her head, a small smile forming on her lips as she pats him on the cheek one last time. “Not near as much as you do.” She sighs and drops her hand to his, squeezing it lightly and looking ahead again; her voice adopting a rather business-like tone. “From what Seungri has told me, he’s a bit shorter than you; We shall have to stop by the tailor’s so that you can tell him how broad his shoulders are...Seungri is terrible with measurements.” She says, dragging Jiyong along with her.

 

He smiles brightly and keeps pace with her; he just loved going to the tailor’s to have clothing made.

~

 

Jiyong has never had a worse night’s sleep in his life. He gave up  _ trying _ to fall asleep at around two in the morning and instead spent about an hour going through his closet and reorganizing everything - a rather mean feat that he hadn’t anticipated to be so difficult - before falling asleep on a pile of pants that he had been unable to decide whether he wanted to keep or not. Seungri found him lying there, in what looked to be a terribly uncomfortable position, at 5:30 when he came in to drop off breakfast.

 

Seungri allowed a pitying chuckle to escape his mouth before he made his way over to start picking up the mess. There were clothes everywhere and while Seungri was uncertain why they were separated into piles, or even why they were out of their proper places anyway, he knew that he would need to pick them up. He decides to wait as long as possible to wake the Prince up as who knew how terribly irritable the man would be this morning. When he tripped over a riding boot and only just barely caught himself less than fifteen minutes later, he decided that it was time to wake the Prince up and deal with the consequences.

 

“Sire...Sire I know it’s early but you must be uncomfortable.” Seungri whispers, squatting down in front of the sleeping man. 

 

Jiyong groans and rolls onto his side. “Go away.” He mutters on a growl. 

 

“No.” Seungri says, rolling his eyes and moving closer to grab a pair of old riding pants from under the Prince’s head.

 

Jiyong curls tighter into himself and squeezes his eyes shut. “Just a little longer.” He whines, and Seungri tilts his head so that he can see Jiyong’s face better. 

 

“At least move onto the bed, it will be more comfortable.” He says, noting how tired Jiyong looks, even with his eyes still closed.

 

Jiyong grumbles some more but slowly sits up, his hair sticking to the side of his face, and opens his eyes just a little. “Time is it?” He asks in a barely audible mumble.

 

“Ahh, almost 6:00 by now I think.” Seungri says, gathering up the rest of the pile that Jiyong had been lying on and standing up. “Care to explain why your clothes were all over your room?” He asks as Jiyong slowly stands and hobbles over to the bed.

 

Jiyong had just grasped the bedpost when he stops, his eyes widening in shock. “Oh God it’s today.” He says.

 

Seungri nods distractedly, “yes, yes it is.” He says as he carefully refolds the pile of clothing he’d collected from the floor.

 

He wasn’t expecting Jiyong’s reaction and so fell back with a startled yelp of surprise when the Prince rounded on him. “How can you be so calm?” He roars, and Seungri stares up at him in confusion. “Run me a bath!” He orders before turning toward the table and his breakfast. “I must look absolutely awful.” He mutters, pulling the lid off of the tray to survey the food.

 

“It will be ready for you in 30 minutes, as usual...” Seungri says, confused, before it dawns on him. “Ahh, Sire. Don’t worry about it. I’m sure he will decide to stay.” He says, leaving the pile of clothes and moving closer to try and comfort Jiyong.

 

Jiyong freezes, “I don’t want to talk about it.” He says softly, and Seungri nods, backing away slowly.

 

“Ah, yes Sire, I shall see if I can speed up the progress on your bath...” He hesitates for another moment, biting his lip and looking around him, “Is there anything else I should do? Prepare the adjacent chamber for his stay? Clean yours?” he asks, and Jiyong manages to crack a small smile, his eyes still facing the windows.

 

“I suppose my chambers should be cleaned...Mother has plans for what to do, so don’t worry about other chambers.” Jiyong says, before taking a fortifying breath and moving to take a seat. “Don’t worry about rushing the bath, I will wait.” he says, and Seungri nods.

 

“Yes Sire,” he says, bowing and backing out of the room. He allows himself to smile as he shuts the door to the Prince’s room, before it falls into a sharp scowl; life would be terribly difficult for everyone in the castle if Youngbae didn’t agree to move into the castle. Though Seungri couldn’t fathom why he wouldn’t agree, there was obviously a very good reason otherwise the Prince wouldn’t be so worried about his answer.

 

Jiyong took a comforting bath and dressed as quickly as he could manage (it only took him three tries before he finally left the castle without considering going back to change). He’s on the road and outside the castle gates before Seungri catches up to him, panting and carrying a basket.

 

“Sire! A basket of snacks...” He says as Jiyong slows down to a stop.

 

“Oh.” Jiyong says, wondering why he hadn’t even thought of that. He holds out his hands but Seungri shakes his head.

 

“No.” He says, starting to walk down the path ahead of Jiyong. “You told me it was too heavy last time, so I will carry it this time.” Jiyong slowly starts to follow, and Seungri silently congratulates himself on his small victory; he wanted to be there for the Prince, just in case.

 

Jiyong patiently accepts his pushy servant’s company. He would never say it out loud, but he seriously appreciated the not-so-subtle push to comfort him. He’s more than nervous to be down at the cove today as the way he saw it, and the way it had seemed after they parted ways yesterday, if Youngbae didn’t commit to staying with him then there was no guarantee he would ever see him again. It was stupid to think that way, but Jiyong knew that it would almost hurt more (and be worse for him in the long run) if he were still able to see Youngbae but with the knowledge that the merman had not chosen to stay with him.

 

Jiyong lets out an almost audible sigh and stops at the top of the path that lead down into the cove; he isn’t sure he is ready. Seungri stops just a little farther down and turns to look back up at him. “Sire, you won’t find out if you don’t go.” he says, and Jiyong nods before taking another deep breath and starting on his way again.

~

 

“So wait.” Hyunbae says for what was probably the fourth time that morning. They are floating just below the surface in front of the dock as Hyunbae is a little more than uncomfortable. “If I surface...I will be able to breathe and see...and speak?” He asks. Daesung, Seunghyun and Youngbae all nod. “And you can get out of the water...and you have...legs.” He says, and Youngbae nods.

 

“Come on, I wanted to beat him here today, let’s go.” Hyunbae just looks at him blankly so Seunghyun grabs him by the arm. 

 

“Let’s go.” He says and starts swimming toward the surface, pulling Hyunbae along with him. Youngbae smiles lightly at his friend before darting to the surface. 

 

Once he is able to see clearly, he pulls himself up onto the dock, only to remember that he doesn’t have any clothes and that always makes Jiyong uncomfortable. He’s lost in thought when he hears a gasp from the water and returns his gaze there. His brother, head above the water and floating just in front of the dock, has his eyes and mouth wide open in shock.

 

“I didn’t believe you, but oh wow.” He says, moving forward and touching Youngbae’s damp foot. “Ahh it feels weird!” He says on a laugh and everyone laughs with him. They are silent for a moment as they wait and then Daesung points out behind Youngbae.

 

“Oh look! It’s Jiyong, with some other human.” He says, sounding thoroughly delighted. Youngbae laughs but notices that Seunghyun just scowls at the excited sound in Daesung’s voice. 

 

Youngbae turns his head to look and sure enough he sees Jiyong walking alongside Seungri, who is carrying a basket. “It’s Seungri, his servant.” He says, and Hyunbae tilts his head to the side.

 

“Royal?” He asks, and Youngbae nods. “Hmm.” 

 

“Youngbae!” Seungri calls out happily, making Jiyong scowl and push him slightly.

 

Youngbae smiles back at them and watches as the two get closer. He notices that Jiyong’s face is set in a guardedly neutral expression, and he looks tired. Seungri hurries forward when they get close enough and puts the basket on the ground, pulling out a pair of pants and handing them to Youngbae. Youngbae smiles and accepts them, quickly pulling them on and gesturing for them to sit down. Jiyong sits down directly next to him on the opposite side from Seungri and musters up a small smile for Daesung and Seunghyun who he notices in the water.

 

“Alright, which one of you is my brother leaving the ocean for?” Hyunbae says suddenly, clearly impatient to get on with the meeting. Jiyong simply turns his head in Hyunbae’s direction, while Seungri jumps and spins to face the three men in the water, alarm written on his face. “I’m going to assume it isn’t you, then.” Hyunbae says, a teasing smile lighting up his features.

 

“No, that’s Seungri,” Jiyong says, leaning over Youngbae so that he is closer to Hyunbae, his entire demeanor suddenly much lighter than previously. “I’m Jiyong, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He says, his voice dripping charm and a warm smile on his face.

 

The two shake hands and Hyunbae smiles. “Hyunbae.” He says, staring Jiyong down for a short moment. “I think you’ll do.” He says, and Jiyong smirks.

 

“I sure hope so,” he whispers as he sits back. Youngbae hears him and smiles softly, his eyes following Jiyong’s movements.

 

“Wait. Wait.” Seungri says, his hands out in front of him and his legs pulled up and away from the edge of the dock. Everyone turns to look at him and swallows hard. “You told me he lived over there.” He says, pointing vaguely in the direction of a small island way off in the distance.

 

“No, I told you he was from the ocean, you just  _ assumed _ that I meant something else.” Jiyong says.

 

“Who are...wait.” Seungri says, and Daesung smiles brightly, moving past Hyunbae to lean on the dock in front of Seungri.

 

“You’re so delightfully shocked!” Daesung says, and Hyunbae rolls his eyes while the other three laugh.

 

“What he meant to say was ‘hi, I’m Daesung.’” Seunghyun says dryly, moving up to the dock as well. “Sometimes he forgets to start with that. I’m Seunghyun. We’re friends of Youngbae’s.” Seungri just nods and Daesung’s face falls into a slight pout.

 

“What did I say wrong?” He asks, and Seunghyun just shakes his head, pulling Daesung away from the edge of the dock as he does so.

 

“And you’re Youngbae’s brother...but you are all in the water...and Youngbae never has pants...”

 

“Or a shirt.” Jiyong says dryly, picking up Youngbae’s hand to inspect his fingers.

 

“Right..and you’re from the...from the ocean...?” Seungri asks, looking around him for help.

 

“We have fins, too!” Daesung says, flipping his fin slowly up in front of him, holding onto Seunghyun for support. Seungri’s eyes open even wider and he grabs Youngbae by the arm.

 

“But you don’t have...you have feet!” He says.

 

“A hard won battle, I assure you.” Seunghyun says, tilting his head to the side and raising an eyebrow. “Are you stupid or just shocked?” He asks, and Jiyong and Hyunbae both seem to be choking on their laughter.

 

“Shh, that’s not nice Seunghyun.” Youngbae says, patting Seungri on the back. “He didn’t know, and this is quite a lot for him to take in. You gonna be ok?” He asks, turning his attention on Seungri. Seungri sucks in a deep breath and nods, visibly calming himself down.

 

“So, Youngbae told us that you had a question to ask.” Daesung says, and Jiyong sits up straighter and tilts his head to the side, urging Daesung to continue. “One that he was going to give you a final answer on today...what was it?” Daesung asks, and Jiyong knows that they all know the question, but he plays along anyway.

 

“Well, he said that if I asked him to stay with me forever, he would give me his final answer today.” Jiyong says, and Daesung nods.

 

“Well, it looks like we need an answer.” Hyunbae says, arching a brow and nodding toward Youngbae.

 

“Ahh, yeah.” Youngbae says, a smile on his face. “I’m ready to stay with you forever, if you’re ready to keep me.” he says, and Jiyong doesn’t even try to hold himself back.

 

The second the words register in Jiyong’s mind he throws his arms around Youngbae’s neck and pulls him in for a short kiss. When he pulls back he smiles at Youngbae, “Good, because my mother has already ordered you clothing.” He says, and Youngbae laughs.

 

“You almost got your own horse too, but the lead riding instructor said that you could have Jiyong’s, as he’s no good at riding anyway.” Seungri says, and Youngbae laughs. They talk for a short while, giving everyone the chance to get to know each other, before Hyunbae releases a deep sigh and shakes his head.

 

“We’ve got to get back.” He says, a frown tugging at his mouth. “Kelp harvesting starts this afternoon.” He adds, causing Seunghyun to grimace.

 

“I hate kelp harvesting.” He says, and Daesung pats him on the arm.

 

Hyunbae reaches forward to shake Jiyong’s hand. “Take good care of him, will you?” He asks, and Jiyong nods.

 

Jiyong sits back and Daesung smiles up at him. “Can I have a hug? I’m feeling sad about his departure.” Daesung says, and Jiyong smiles and leans forward to comply, only to be pulled into the water by Daesung’s strong arms.

 

He was shocked, to say the least, though he supposed that he should have expected it. Daesung held him in a tight embrace for a couple of seconds before Seunghyun tapped him on the shoulder and pulled Jiyong to him. “I’m glad Youngbae found you.” Seunghyun says softly, “You make him so happy, thank you.” He adds, and Jiyong wraps his arms around Seunghyun’s neck and gives him a tight squeeze before letting go and allowing Youngbae to pull him up out of the water.

 

“What’s got you so worried, Seungri?” Hyunbae asks, noting that Seungri had gone as white as a sheet when Jiyong had been dragged into the water.

 

Seungri slowly looks over at him, peeling his eyes away from Youngbae fussing over a very wet Jiyong. “The Prince doesn’t enjoy his clothes getting wet.” He says, making Hyunbae laugh.

 

“Somehow I think he’s going to be OK with it.” he says. “Alright, Youngbae.” Hyunbae says loudly, and Daesung and Seunghyun back up to be level with him. “I’ll be back to check up on you in a week’s time.” Youngbae nods and then the three mermen wave.

 

“See you soon!” Daesung says. 

 

“Remember! I want a fork!” Seunghyun says, causing Jiyong to laugh and Hyunbae to shake his head.

 

“And you were embarrassed by Daesung earlier?” he asks, still shaking his head. 

 

With one last goodbye the three mermen dip below the surface, disappearing from view as they swim away. It’s silent on the dock for a moment as Youngbae watches the point where they had disappeared and Jiyong and Seungri watch him. Jiyong bites his lip, a look of concern on his face. He turns so that he is facing Youngbae’s side and pushes his hand through the wall of braids that surrounded Youngbae’s neck, allowing his fingers to catch on the shells.

 

“Are you going to be OK?” He asks softly, and Youngbae is quiet for a couple of moments.

 

“Yeah.” He says just as softly, turning his head to look at Jiyong, a soft smile on his face. “I’ll be fine.” Jiyong smiles brightly,  that smile that is all gums and teeth and basically closed eyes, and Youngbae can’t help but to return it.

 

“Are you two going to smile at each other for the rest of the day or...?” Seungri asks from his spot on the dock on the other side of Youngbae. Youngbae laughs and Jiyong manages not to scowl at the interruption, especially since Youngbae leans forward and plants a swift kiss on his cheek.

 

“What would you prefer that we did?” Jiyong asks as Youngbae stands up so that he can see both men at once.

 

“You’ll have plenty of time to look at each other...but shouldn’t we show him the castle and have him meet the King and Queen, and the cooks prepared this snack....” Seungri says, and Youngbae smiles before sitting back down to better wrap an arm around Seungri’s shoulders.

 

“I love snacks.” He says, and Jiyong laughs.

 

“Alright, snacks first, then the over-eager Seungri can run along and alert the proper people to our imminent arrival...” Seungri smiles and nods, though the nodding was difficult as Youngbae’s arm was making it hard for him to do so properly.

 

Youngbae would wait until they were alone, much later in the day, to tell Jiyong just how scared he really was. He was so far removed from his own home, from the only life he had ever known, and he was happier than he had ever felt; but more terrified than he had ever been. Jiyong’s lips just twitch up into a small smile as he brushes his hand over Youngbae’s hair.

 

“My heart would break, and I would never properly survive, if you went back.” He says softly, and Youngbae takes in a deep breath, waiting for Jiyong to finish. “But I would let you, because I love you too much to see you hurt. I would do anything for you, and I  _ will _ do anything for you.” Jiyong says, keeping his eyes down.

 

Youngbae smiles and reaches forward, grabbing Jiyong’s chin and tilting it so that their eyes meet. “I would never leave you. I just want you to know...I’m scared...I need you.” He says, and Jiyong grins.

 

“Don’t say things you’ll regret later.” He murmurs, “I may just use those words against you.” 

 

“I hope so.” Youngbae says, before leaning in and capturing Jiyong’s lips with his own. Jiyong grins into the kiss and pushes Youngbae back before breaking the kiss to move so that he was sitting on top of Youngbae and their foreheads were pressed together.

 

“I’d suggest moving to the bed,” He whispers, his eyes closed, “But I’ve decided that  _ I _ need you here first.” He grins again and presses a soft kiss to Youngbae’s lips before moving to his chin and neck.

 

No, Youngbae had nothing to fear with Jiyong there to be with him. His fear was short-lived, and it was replaced with a confidence that was only bolstered by his new-found love of the people he now saw on a daily basis. Jiyong was his number one, of course, and he never forgot about his home; trips to the ocean were an almost daily occurrence.

  
Happiness like theirs is legendary; love like theirs is worthy of every type of envy.


End file.
